Choices
by Kahva
Summary: Choices made, choices not made. All have their rewards and consequences. Once made, our choices cannot be changed - they must be lived with. After an early morning exploration of forgotten parts of the Castle of Lions, Allura discovers that choices made in her childhood still influence not just her present, but Coran's and the Paladins' as well.
1. Chapter 1

**_Disclaimer:_** _I don't own any version of Voltron, past, present or future. The only thing I own is this story, the laptop I'm typing it on, and my own whacky imagination._

 ** _Author's Note:_** _This story is one I've been plotting out for a long time now, changing things as the series moved forward to keep it as canon compliant as possible. I had already started writing the story once Season Six came out, and well… Let's just say this goes AU after Season Five, shall we? I'll be bringing in a character from the original GoLion and Voltron, and I may bring back others as this story evolves. Also, I've yet to find anywhere in any canon version of Voltron where Allura's mother was named, so I have named her Selene in this story. And did I say this is AU past Season Five? Yes? Good. Sit back, grab some nunville, and enjoy!_

* * *

"Well hello there, I'm not seen you in long time."

It was early in the vargas that were considered morning on the castle ship; if they were on Olkarion still, it would be two vargas before dawn. Things had been relatively quiet for at least five quintants, which had given Allura, Coran, and the Paladins time to catch up on repairs, routine maintenance, and most importantly, sleep. But with no immediate emergencies to respond to, and no repairs or maintenance she could attend to, Allura had been restless this night. Unwilling to take anything to help her get back to sleep, the princess had decided instead to roam areas of the castle she had not been in since before the war had begun with the Galran Empire.

Before the war, the castle had been a bustling hive of activity, with several scientists, alchemists, household staff, advisors, and soldiers roaming the halls at all vargas of the day and night. Most of the staff had lived in the castle instead of homes in nearby towns to keep everything running smoothly. Their quarters had been on the lower levels of the castle back then for the most part, so they would be better able to tend to various people coming in and out daily. Others though, had their quarters on higher levels depending upon their particular job. Guests, the original Paladins, emissaries, advisors, scientists, alchemists, her relatives, anyone who came to the castle for an extended visit or had regular business there, had rooms to stay in on multiple floors in the castle, well-spaced out to keep everyone from tripping over each other, but not so far apart for anyone to feel like they were isolated from everyone else. Those halls were eerily empty now, and Allura had quickly decided not to roam those floors after a few dobashes of hearing voices and laughter, and knowing those people were long dead. Many had been friends of hers, her parents. Aunts, uncles, cousins. Casual acquaintances, strangers. All gone now, either directly because of the war, or due to time.

No mortal being was meant to live for several thousand years. Zarkon and Honerva had paid the price for that fateful bargain with quintessence, and one day so would Haggar. _What price will Lotor pay, being the son of Honerva and Zarkon?_ she wondered, even as she walked out on a floor she'd selected randomly while in the lift. _Will he be able to resist the lure of harnessing massive amounts of quintessence, if he's able to continue his mother's work in the future? Quintessence that could poison and corrupt him just as it did them?_

But all thoughts of Zarkon, Haggar, Honerva, Lotor, and loss, were pushed out of her mind as she realized where her wandering had taken her: the study level. Here on this floor, she had learned science, math, history, art, geography. She had trained for her duties as a princess who would one day be queen. Politics was a tricky business, whether one was a royal, or an elected official. She'd studied the laws of Altea, the treaties signed with other worlds. She learned about their forms of government, their belief systems, and had been in the midst of learning about various traditions of the many allied worlds when Zarkon had declared war. On this floor, roaming these halls, she still heard many voices, but these didn't haunt her like the others had. There had been many happy memories made in the various classrooms with her teachers and her governess. 'Nanny', some had called her, but she had preferred the title 'Royal Governess', Allura remembered with a smile, if anyone was going to be formal with her in those days. "Nanny," she'd said many times, "makes it sound like I should still be putting you down for naps and changing your diaper, Allura. You're much too old for that!"

Allura knew the other reason her governess hadn't liked being called 'Nanny'. She'd heard her recording a journal entry early one morning in her room, thinking Allura wasn't awake yet. "I hate it when they call me 'Nanny', as if it's my name. Or my only job. It makes me sound like I'm supposed to be a babysitter and that's all. Allura is not a toddler anymore, and I have more responsibility to her than to make sure she eats her meals on schedule!" And she'd talked more about the lack of respect some of the staff showed her, though they were always extremely careful not to do it in front of the King and Queen, or Allura. Or Coran, or the Paladins, who were all rather fond of her in their own ways. And, as Allura remembered, she had never once complained to anyone about the lack of respect, or the whispers that even Allura had heard, that her position as Allura's governess was either ceremonial at best, or an unearned job given out of pity by the King and Queen at worst.

 _You were somewhat like Keith,_ Allura thought with a fond smile. _Always keeping everything in as much as possible, only letting a few of us into your heart._ As she ran her hand over her old school desk in what had been the room where she studied history and religion, Allura allowed herself a small chuckle, as memories of her governess helping her with lessons came to her mind. "You were family to me, you were my sister of the heart. And," she smiled more widely, "the only one who _ever_ got away with calling me 'Lu-Lu'." Her smile turned sad then. "I miss you so much."

She had wandered through more of the old classrooms, some having held up to age and battle better than others. Then impulse had driven her to run up the stairs for two floors, to where the old royal chambers had once been located, and searched for her governess' old quarters, which had been connected to Allura's old room. It remained exactly as it had been left, all personal items had been moved to newer quarters once Allura had reached the age of fourteen. And, as Alfor had pointed out back then, the floor the royal family was moving to was more secure. Queen Selene had never quite gotten over the assassination attempts on Allura's life three years earlier, so being more secure – even if that extra security was really only a few more cameras, more difficult passcodes on the private lift to then newly refurbished rooms – had eased the Queen's mind greatly.

"And father knew no one would defend me more fiercely than you," Allura said, running her fingers lightly over the old computer terminal panel. "Oh!" she exclaimed, as the panel came to life, and the room was filled with all the lights on full. Her governess' picture from when she had lived in these quarters winked into existence, and then changed into a life-size hologram of the young woman, who had been all of twenty when she last lived in this room. "Well hello there, I'm not seen you in long time."

"Princess Allura," the hologram said, a polite smile on the young woman's face. A smile that quickly turned impish as the formal greeting powered by the terminal's standard system was overridden by the governess' own programming. "Little Lu-Lu."

"Oh!" Allura exclaimed again, out of surprise and delight, her eyes becoming slightly moist with the beginnings of happy tears. "You managed to leave your memories here like Father did! But how was your AI not corrupted by Sendak's attempt to steal the castle ship?"

"Sendak?" the AI questioned. "Who is Sendak?" The hologram shifted, eyes unfocused and head tilted, and spoke before Allura could answer the question. "Access castle archives and current operating system, connection to isolated system Royal Governess Hys requested."

{Passcode required} the castle's own AI responded in a flat but pleasant voice.

"Royal Governess Hys, passcode RGH-20. Authorization, King Alfor."

{Processing. Request granted, connection complete}

Allura watched at the hologram of her governess flickered, shrank back down to the picture that had first appeared when the program had activated, then after a few ticks, returned back to being a life-sized hologram. "Your system wasn't connected to the rest of the castle, you were completely isolated, Hys?"

"That is correct," the Hys AI answered, a sad smile on her face. "King Alfor was experimenting with a different way of storing memories and I volunteered to help him, so we kept this system, and the one in my quarters connected to your current quarters, separate from everything else. But he set everything up so that my AI could sense if there was a need to access the castle's system, and could request access independently." Hys' AI actually blushed slightly for a few moments, but the sad smile remained. "I believe he wanted to ensure that I could have privacy, since at the time neither of us saw any reason my AI would be needed to be accessed elsewhere in the castle anyway. But he did realize that there was always a chance, so he set everything up to be able to do exactly that, just in case. My AI here is now connected to the one in my last quarters here in the castle, but since it hasn't been activated yet, I do not have access to the memories stored there. Basically, the connection is there, but it hasn't been awakened yet. But once you activate the terminal in my room, the connection between us will be instantly active. From my later AI you will be able to access the memories here, the memories there, and my AI will be able to access the castle's archives and system to update any necessary information we will need." The hologram paused a moment, and Allura was certain she could actually see it take an electronic breath. "I'm so sorry you had to lose the King's AI, Allura."

Allura's breath hitched ever so slightly. Knowing she had done the right thing, the only thing that could have been done, had eased the loss of being able to talk to her father. But the loss was still felt. "Sendak's crystal corrupted the castle's systems. It had to be done to save ourselves, and Voltron."

Hys' AI smiled then, and Allura felt her heart flutter at just how _real_ the hologram seemed, even more real than her own father's had been somehow. It was all she could do not to throw her arms around the hologram to hug her oldest friend, her sister of the heart. "Your father would be proud of you, Allura. You were faced with a difficult choice. Just because it was the only choice that would save everyone, doesn't mean it was an easy choice. Both of your parents would be proud, believe me."

Allura nodded, blinking back the tears that were threatening to fall. She hadn't expected to find anything during her early morning wandering that would trigger such strong emotions, but in a matter of dobashes she was fourteen years old again, and all she wanted to do was sit beside the young woman who had been her sister of the heart, hold her tight, smell the hint of juniberries in Hys' hair that her shampoo always left behind, and simply cry, though she wasn't sure just what she felt like crying about. "They were your parents too, Hys."

The hologram looked down for a moment, and even though she was only a hologram, the sadness and pain in Hys' eyes was unmistakable. "Legal guardians," she said quietly. Then the AI looked at Allura, and now it was the hologram that appeared to be blinking back tears. "But I often wished they could legally adopt me. They're the only parents I ever knew. Or at least this version of my memories. My other AI is the older me, perhaps she found out who my parents were."

"You don't have access to your older AI? No, wait, you already said you didn't, I'm sorry. When do your memories here end?"

"I made my last memory recording on this terminal the quintant before we moved upstairs to the new rooms. A couple of quintants after our move, I know I planned to make the first recording on that terminal, and I do not see anything in the castle's databanks to lead me to believe I wouldn't have proceeded with that plan. I hadn't expected to be able to do it that soon, but the King had everything ready to go even before we changed rooms. I'm honestly surprised I'm still here on this terminal, I had thought the King would want to free it up for other uses. But I'm glad I'm still here too," she said, smiling, any hint of holographic tears threatening to fall now gone. "Because now I get to see you again."

Allura smiled, again fighting the urge to hug her old friend. "I'm so happy to see you again, Hys. There's so much I want to talk to you about! So many things have happened. Well, you know that already, now that you've accessed the castle's memory banks. But so many things to talk about, I'm not even sure where to start."

The Hys AI gestured towards her old bed. "Have a seat, we can start anywhere you want. A girl talk night. Or morning, as the case may be."

"Yes, just like when we would talk all night long until the sunrise. Then I would have to pretend to have gotten a full night's sleep when you and Mother would call me for breakfast," Allura laughed. "I always envied you, how you were able to look perfectly awake, alert, and well-rested after one of our all-night talks. How ever did you manage it?"

"Governess' secret, Little Lu-Lu."

"No fair!" Allura shouted, but laughed and smiled as she settled down on the long-forgotten bed. "I command you as your Princess to tell me how you did it!"

Hys smiled, her hologram now reappearing closer to where Allura was sitting, surprising the Altean royal. "Passcode first, Lu-Lu."

"Oh, you!" Allura giggled, then smiled broadly, her heart lighter than it had been in far too long. "Do you remember when I tried to make a shaving cream for Father, but I mixed up some of the ingredients in the chemistry lab?"

"I remember he had to shave three times a quintant for the entire spring so that he wouldn't have bright pink and green hair over most of his face. Thank goodness he never tried the shampoo you made!"

"No, that was Coran, poor man. Though I do have to say, his hair being blue and purple all spring long - how do the Paladins put it?" Allura thought for a moment, then gave her best impression of Lance. "Dude! He totally rocked it!"

This was how Coran found them both, princess and AI, four vargas later when he realized Allura hadn't come down yet for breakfast: laughing, and sharing childhood memories. Instead of announcing himself, he quietly stepped away from the old, long unused room, leaving his princess with an old friend and happy memories. He would come back in a couple of vargas, he told himself, and remind Allura that she needed to eat something. In the meantime, he would check the castle ship's memory banks for information about Hys' AI. He hadn't known anyone else's memories had been stored on the ship besides King Alfor's, so the appearance of the former Royal Governess had taken him by surprise. He would quietly ask Pidge to run a scan to make sure there wasn't a virus hidden in the AI, just to be safe, but his gut told him everything would be fine. Or at least, that was his hope. It had been too long since Allura had laughed and smiled like she was doing now with her old friend, and he was loathe to, as the humans said, to 'rain on her parade'. Which considering the equivalent of rain on Altea was razor sharp, boiling hot rocks falling from the sky, he could fully agree that raining on a parade, or any happy occasion, was not something he would wish to happen to anyone.


	2. Chapter 2

_Congratulations to everyone who recognized Hys from the original GoLion - in Voltron, Defender of the Universe, she was called Nanny. In both GoLion and Voltron she was older than what I have her AI, and she was, if we're to be honest, a bit annoying at times. VLD riffed on this with Dayak in Season 6, but more on the bossy and strict side of Hys. I always felt that her love and concern for Allura and Coran was never truly explored, at least not as much as I would have liked. And the way she was used at times as comic relief didn't sit well with me. Since VLD has reinterpreted some of the characters from GoLion and Voltron, I decided when I first started plotting this fic that I would rework Hys a bit, and have her be more than just a worrywart who is determined to have Allura marry properly, and so very against Allura being the pilot of the Blue Lion. She's still going to be very protective of her Princess, but in a way that isn't focused on sheltering Allura to the point of being suffocating. Now then, here's the second chapter, please enjoy!_

* * *

"So, Allura had a governess?" Hunk asked as he cleared away the plates from where he, Pidge and Lance had been eating breakfast in the mess hall. Shiro hadn't come down for breakfast either, or he had eaten earlier, but Hunk wasn't sure which was the case. Lance and Pidge leaned back in their chairs as Coran moved to fix himself some food goo for his own breakfast, waiting for him to continue. "Sorry, she's a princess, of course she would have had a governess or nanny or something to take care of her. I'm sure the King and Queen were always busy with, well, King and Queen… stuff."

"Oh they kept busy alright, but they were never too busy for Allura. Or Hys for that matter. That's Allura's governess' name, Hys. They were Hys' legal guardians pretty much from the time she was born." Coran sighed. "Those were more peaceful times, when Hys and Allura were children. Hys was six years old when Allura was born, and she immediately jumped in to help Queen Selene take care of baby Allura. The bond between the two of them was instant, nobody besides Alfor or Selene could calm Allura down as quickly when she was upset, get her to fall asleep, or make her laugh like Hys could - those two had a very special connection right from Allura's birth." Coran settled down with his plate of food goo. "If Alfor and Selene had been allowed to adopt Hys, Allura would have had a legal sister growing up. But Hys' birth parents, while apparently willing to admit that they were not prepared to be parents, were not willing to allow anyone else to legally become their daughter's parents."

"How did Allura's parents get involved in all of this?" Pidge asked. She pushed her glasses up, always a sign that she was interested and focused on the matter at hand. Even Lance was leaning forward now, curious about this person who apparently had been so important in Allura's life growing up.

Coran sighed, twirling his fork in his plate of goo. "Well, whoever Hys' parents were -,"

"What do you mean, 'whoever'? How do you not know who someone's parents are?"

"Lance," Pidge said sharply.

"What?"

"Keith."

"What does Keith have to do with anything… oh, right. Doesn't know who his Mom is. Sorry."

"As I was saying," Coran started again, noting that Shiro had joined in them in the mess hall at some point, "Hys' parents, whoever they were, apparently wanted someone to be her legal guardian, or guardians, because they felt they were not able to take the time to raise her. Apparently." Coran took a deep breath, then nudged his plate of goo to the side. "Whoever they were, they were involved with Honerva's rift research, and just as single-mindedly focused on that project as everyone else who spent more than a few phoebs on Daibazaal working on it."

Lance frowned. "They put work ahead of their own daughter? Some parents."

"At least they realized she deserved better, from the sounds of it," Shiro interrupted, sliding out a chair from the table and sitting down. "Is that what happened, Coran?"

Coran slowly nodded. "That's what we - the King, Queen, and I - always believed. My understanding is that they asked Honerva to intercede on their behalf with Alfor. And apparently she then foisted the job on Zarkon, as she was busy with her research. So it was Zarkon who called Alfor to Daibazaal to take on a baby who was barely a quintant old, to be her legal guardian and raise her on Altea, since the baby was Altean." Coran looked at each of the paladins in turn. "We had several Alteans - alchemists, scientists, engineers - who volunteered to work under Honerva right alongside their fellow Galran researchers. While it was never talked about since no one really thought it mattered, there were some romances that sprung up over the years between various members of Honerva's project. Some chose to leave the project to work on other things, some left to take care of family matters or to retire, and this was true whether they were Altean, Galran, or anyone else. Others stayed on, focused on the research like Honerva and Zarkon were. Or they were killed when the dark creatures came through the rift. We never found out who her parents were, because Zarkon had given his word that he would protect their privacy. Personally, I think two of the researchers must have had an affair, and were embarrassed, didn't want their families to find out what they had done. So they gambled that Honerva would have pity on them and intercede on their behalf to have their child raised by Alfor and Selene if they were truly fortunate, or at least by someone in the royal household. But I suppose they considered it a greater embarrassment that they could not tend for their unplanned child, and didn't want anyone to ever find out they had given up their child for adoption, so that is why they wouldn't let Zarkon or Honerva reveal their identities, nor give up their rights to their child."

"Pretty big gamble to take if you ask me," Shiro commented.

"Oh yes, a rather big gamble, you're right there, Shiro," Coran nodded, finally starting to eat a bit of his breakfast. "But everyone knew how much Alfor and Selene loved children, and were planning to start their own family, so it was a reasonable gamble in that sense. At the very least, between having Zarkon step up for them, and knowing the how the King and Queen felt about children, they could be assured that wherever she ended up, Hys would be well taken care of." Coran paused in his eating, idly twisting his fork in the goo again. "She really lit up the castle when she arrived. Silvery-brown hair, dark blue eyes with the faintest flecks of gold in them - and as a baby, quite the set of lungs when she was upset. Which remarkably, was not all that often for an infant, she was rather quiet most of the time. Which meant that when she did cry or scream, something was really wrong. Poor thing, she caught a flu variant when she was barely a year old, a new strain at the time that affected Galrans and Alteans both. In adults and older children it wasn't too bad. Even older adults didn't fall too horribly ill if they were in reasonably good health beforehand. But infants and toddlers would be terribly sick. Hys was one of the sickest, it seemed like the virus was hitting her doubly hard."

"I remember Father talking about it," Allura said, entering the mess hall. "Mother was instrumental in developing a vaccine against the hybrid flu, if my memory serves me right." The princess looked at Coran, one eyebrow slightly raised. "Why are you talking about Hys this morning?" she asked, taking a seat at the table across from Coran, as Hunk hurried to fix her some breakfast.

Before Coran could reply, Lance jumped into the conversation. "You had a governess? And she wasn't that much older than you from what Coran was saying, only five years older than you?"

"Six," Pidge corrected, adjusting her glasses again. "Coran said he found you talking to her AI. How is that possible, I thought only the King's AI, the King's memories had been saved here?"

"Sorry Allura," Coran started, his hands turned up in apology on either side of his plate of half-eaten food goo. "I was concerned when you hadn't come down for breakfast and when the ship's sensors showed me you were on the old royal chambers floor, I went looking for you, and -"

"You found me talking to Hys' AI," the princess said with a warm smile. "You should have come in, Coran. You wouldn't have been interrupting." Allura placed a hand on Hunk's arm and gave him a grateful look as he placed her breakfast on the table in front of her. "To answer your question Pidge, I didn't know Hys' memories had been stored here in the castle, or that an AI had been created by my father. Hys' AI was completely isolated from the rest of the castle's systems, so it wouldn't have shown up on any scans. Though I'm a little surprised Father didn't at least mention it somewhere. But Hys thinks he wanted her to have some privacy, and her AI and memory storage was experimental," she said, looking at Coran. "Apparently Father was testing a different method of memory storage?"

Coran's brow furrowed in thought. "I vaguely remember something about that. I know he was talking about it, trying to create memory storage that could be connected to an AI that you could physically touch. Imagine an AI that wasn't a mere hologram, but could physically move about and actually touch objects in the castle, do physical repairs, not just aid in a virtual environment. I hadn't realized he had moved from theory to actually creating such an AI, or at least trying to. If that's what he was doing with Hys' AI. But anyway, after the comet hit Daibazaal, he was focused on the study of the comet, then the building of the lions." Coran sat back then, his breakfast forgotten as he sorted through his memories of the earliest days of Voltron. "I do remember Trigel asking one time what would happen if one of the Paladins were wounded and unable to pilot their lion. Alfor reminded everyone that the lion chooses the Paladin, not the other way around, so they would have to make do with the lions and Paladins that were left until their wounded teammate was able to return to active duty. Blaytz made a comment about it was too bad they couldn't clone themselves, so a clone could temporarily take the place of a wounded Paladin. Now *that* started up a lively debate on whether or not it was ethical to even make clones of sentient beings. Zarkon in particular was interested, but he stayed neutral on the issue and acted as a moderator almost. No one was completely comfortable with the thought of sending clones into battle, because if you could argue there was no ethical reason _not_ to make a clone to replace someone in a time of need, would that automatically give you the right to put that clone into battle, with the clone not having a choice in the matter? Alfor pointed out that Zarkon had his sentries, which were completely robotic and programmable, but sophisticated enough depending on their function to think for themselves, so were they still tools, sophisticated equipment at that level, or a new form of life?" Coran smiled. "Those were the kind of discussions they had sometimes back then, when things were quiet. Asking questions, seeking answers, and no one having hurt feelings over differences of opinion."

Pidge's eyes were glinting, it was obvious she had been imagining herself in the middle of such a discussion with the original Paladins of Voltron. "It's hard to imagine being able to indulge in philosophical and ethical debates like that with your teammates, when your main purpose as a team is to fight. It must have been fun."

"Oh it was, Number Five, it was!" Coran chuckled. "And in those days, Voltron did more than fight. There was time to rebuild cities on any number of planets that had taken severe damage, whether caused by battles years earlier or natural disasters. We had peace then, unlike now."

"But we're getting there," Allura responded. "And we will have peace one day."

"Yes we will," Coran nodded. "Getting back to Hys' AI, I have to wonder now if that debate I just mentioned sparked a renewed interest in Alfor of creating an AI that could physically touch, lift, push - could physically interact with everyone, not just in hologram form. Neither you," he said, pointing his fork at Allura, "or Hys were very old then, I think you were barely a year old, Hys would have been only seven years old. But I do remember him taking note of Hys' natural gift with technology, specifically programming, even at that early age. And she was already showing signs of having good, possibly great potential with alchemy. All the more reason we were sure that she had to be the daughter of two of the Altean researchers on the rift project. He encouraged her to study hard and to study alongside him as he continued to improve and upgrade the lions. Or rather, assisted the lions in improving and upgrading themselves. But," he said with a fond smile, "Alfor always made sure she had plenty of time to be a child. Your big sister in a sense, Allura."

"My sister of the heart. That's how I always felt about her. I still do." Allura sighed. "I think maybe Father did get close to making an AI you could physically touch. Hys' hologram certainly seemed very real, even more than Father's did. Because it was experimental, and because he wanted Hys to have privacy, he never connected her AI to the castle systems, but he made sure the capability to connect was there, just in case."

"And now you get to talk to her again," Shiro said. "See her again."

"It's almost like a family reunion," Hunk agreed, smiling broadly.

Allura nodded, thoughtfully nibbling on her food goo. "Hys' updated AI is in her old quarters - her last quarters here in the castle," she amended. "They've been sealed this entire time, but they're connected to my quarters. I wonder if maybe her updated AI, once activated, will have that ability to physically interact with her environment, with us? I wonder if my Father got that far along with his work."

"Only one way to find out, Allura," Lance said. "Turn her on and see what she can do."

Allura stared at her plate for a few ticks, then nodded. "I'll do just that after breakfast," she decided. "She'll be older, her updated AI. Maybe her older self will even know just who her parents were. I know the AI I talked to this morning doesn't know. But those memories in that AI only go to when Hys was twenty years old, right before we moved to the more secure floor where my chambers are now. If her memories are stored right up to around the time when the war started, she would have been at least twenty-four years old, maybe even twenty-six. It just all depends on when she last recorded anything." A sad look crossed her face then. "She left the castle at the same time Father sent the lions away."

Coran sighed. "She didn't approve of his plan to send the lions away, and she wasn't shy about letting Alfor know she thought he was making a huge mistake. She wanted to keep fighting. She wanted to see if one of the lions would accept her as their Paladin. Gyrgan was still alive then. If Green or Blue had accepted her as a Paladin, that would have been three lions to still fight against Zarkon."

"She wasn't expecting the Black Lion to accept her."

Coran nodded at Shiro's observation. "Remember how I said Alfor recognized her skills, her gift with alchemy? I don't know what all she could have accomplished if things had turned out differently, but while I don't think any of the lions ever communicated with anyone other than their own Paladins back then, there was one time, shortly after the war started, when I saw her in the hanger helping to repair Blue. It was long past time for her to take a break, and I finally managed to convince her to stop for at least a few dobashes. We sat down by Black and she was updating me on the repairs when she suddenly stopped talking, and had an odd look on her face. She got up and turned to look up at Black, and said he was in mourning, she could feel his sadness. His Paladin was lost to him, but he was not lost to his Paladin, and it hurt so much. It didn't make much sense then," Coran said, looking at Shiro, "but considering how hard you had to fight against Zarkon to keep control of Black until you could deepen your connection… well, now it does make sense."

"Sounds a little scary," Lance interjected, shuddering just a bit.

"Makes a bit of sense though, if she was hoping Green or Blue would accept her as their new Paladin," Pidge said. "If she could feel that Black was in mourning, and still felt a connection to Zarkon, then it would be natural for her to feel like Black would not want her, or anyone else for that matter to be his new Paladin right then." Pidge got up and grabbed her tablet, starting to head to the computer lab. "Does make you wonder what might have happened if she could have become a Paladin. Now that she's connected to the castle's systems, I'm going to run some diagnostics, compare her AI to the specs on King Alfor's AI, see if I can figure out where he was going in his experiment with Hys' AI."

"Thank you Pidge," Allura said, gratitude showing in her eyes. "This is work I never knew about, and I definitely want to know more. Pidge," she said, holding out her hand to catch the Green Paladin's hand before she left for the lab, "Can you create a program to protect Hys' AI?"

"Protect?" Pidge asked. Then she blinked as realization hit. "Her AI was protected from Sendak's crystal because it was completely separate from the rest of the castle's systems. Now that she's connected, if something attacks the system again, she's in danger, she's exposed. I'll figure out something, don't worry."

"Thank you."

Coran watched as Allura went back to eating her breakfast, while Shiro, Lance, and Hunk left to go through their normal morning training session. With Pidge already taking an interest in the AI, it would be easy for him to ask the young Paladin to run a scan to make sure there were no signs of a virus or any corruption of the file. She would do the same thing again once the more recent AI was activated, he already knew that, because Pidge was thorough in everything she did to a fault. He found himself breathing easier, and eating the rest of his own breakfast with a bit more gusto. Allura had needed something to lift her spirits a bit, what with things being so very complicated after the fracturing of the Galra Empire. It was going to be up to Lotor to pull his people back together, and while many welcomed - if cautiously - an alliance with Voltron, many others while eager for peace, were unsure of partnering up with the daughter of the man who had ordered the destruction of their old homeworld. And still others wanted her to pay for the loss of Daibazaal with her life before there could be peace. So for several reasons, she could not help Lotor pull his people together. And she was still reassuring members of the Alliance that Lotor could be trusted.

With great caution.

They all knew he had been very helpful, but no one was yet willing to trust him completely. And no one in the Alliance envied Allura or the Paladins their position of having to work so closely with him. Which that understanding kept things from becoming even more complicated than they already were. _Having Hys to talk to will help her,_ Coran thought. _She'll have family with her again; Hys will be able to comfort her in a way I cannot._

It would be almost like having the real young woman back in the castle again, something that Coran found made his own heart lighter. Hys' AI would be someone he could talk to as well, share memories with from before Allura had been born, share memories of the princess' early years. So many memories about so many things. Back before the war. Before all of their lives became so complicated. And maybe, just maybe, Alfor _had_ succeeded in creating an AI that you could actually touch.

Now that would definitely call for a celebration with the best nunville he could find! And for Allura, for Hys, his daughters of the heart, he would definitely find the best in the known universe.


	3. Chapter 3

_Welcome to Chapter Three - which isn't the original Chapter Three I had written. Sometimes a story tries to run away with you and you have to grab a hold of the reins and tell it to wait just a dobash, because there's other things that have to come first. When I started framing up this story, I wanted to not only move forward with our guys, but try to fill in a bit of Coran and Allura's past. Following show canon that has referenced or brought back characters from the original GoLion and Voltron: Defender of the Universe, I decided to use Hys to fill in that history, and also to move our team forward. Once I made the decision to have her be not the obsessively over-protective Nanny who wants to marry off Allura to someone "proper", but make her family of Allura's heart, things snowballed from there. I'm still having to reel in the characters and make sure they understand that we can't simply jump forward into the action, but you know how impatient story characters can be. I may still bring back other characters from the original series if the story warrants it, but for now, please continue to enjoy this story, and feel free to leave a review. And for the Keith lovers - of which I am definitely one! - don't worry, Keith will be showing up soon. On to Chapter Three!_

* * *

"Is anybody nervous besides me?" Hunk asked, straightening up his shirt. "I mean, I know she's an AI and not a real Altean, but we're meeting someone who knew Allura from the moment she was born, basically."

"Coran has also known her since the day she was born," Shiro calmly reminded the Yellow Paladin.

"Yeah but," Lance started, running a comb through his hair as they made their way from the locker room showers to Allura's quarters, "Hys is _not_ Coran," he stated, as if that explained everything.

Shiro shook his head and couldn't stop a chuckle. "You two are acting like you're going on a first date! This is an AI we're going to be talking to, not an actual living, breathing person."

"We know that," Hunk grumbled, still fussing with his shirt.

"But first impressions are always important," Lance pointed out helpfully. "And we want Hys to like us. I know the ship has a clean bill of health since the whole thing with Sendak's crystal, but I'd rather not have it trying to kill me again, and I sure don't want Hys trying to kill me either."

"Yeah, she's probably going to be all protective over Allura. That's what governesses do, right? And we need to make a good impression, or she'll probably think we're not fit to be around royalty. She might not even think we're fit to be Paladins, and will stick us in force fields to keep us from ever flying them again, or she might lock us in our rooms while we're asleep and we'll be stuck in there forever with no food!"

"There's no reason to be afraid of a hologram, Hunk. I'm quite sure the AI will trust the judgement of the lions, just as the real Hys did from the sounds of it." Shiro quickened his pace, leading the way to Allura's quarters. "Your shirt is fine, Hunk. Lance, stop combing your hair, you're not going to in there to flirt with the AI of someone who has been dead for thousands of years."

Lance's cheeks reddened a bit, and he tucked his comb into his pocket. "I was not going to flirt!"

"Yes you were," Hunk grinned.

"Oh, that's rich coming from you! You're the who has been straightening up his shirt all the way from the showers!"

"Stow it!" Shiro barked out, a touch more sharply than he intended. One of his headaches was threatening to creep up on him, and he really didn't want to have to deal with that pain for a second time this morning. The headache he had woken up with had been bad enough. "You both look fine. The AI probably won't even pay attention to what you're wearing. Now come on, let's not keep the others waiting."

Chastened, Hunk and Lance fell in behind Shiro. Of course they knew this wasn't a living, breathing person they were about to meet, they hadn't forgotten that. But something about the look on Allura's face as she and Coran had been talking about Hys over breakfast made both Paladins want to make a good impression on the AI, as if she were indeed real and breathing. This was someone very important to Allura. That meant she needed to be important to them as well.

Besides, both of them had noticed Shiro checking himself in the mirror after he'd showered and dressed, so they knew for all of his calm, Shiro wanted to make a good impression as well.

"We're almost ready," Pidge said, checking a few more readouts on her tablet, then on the terminal Allura had activated in the long-sealed room that had belonged to her friend and governess. There were no sheets on the bed, no personal items left out in the room that the young Paladin had noticed. It was as if no one had ever lived in the room. But Allura assured her that Hys had indeed lived there, and the room had once been very bright and cheerful, if sparsely furnished thousands of years ago. Hys had never been one for clutter or having a lot of bits and baubles laying around, preferring to keep everything to a minimum. Pidge found herself wondering if that had been because Hys simply had never had many things, or if she truly preferred only having a few items.

 _Wherever those items may be after over ten thousand years,_ she mused. "Okay," Pidge started, as Shiro, Lance and Hunk came through the door that connected Allura's chambers to Hys' quarters. "I've run a quick scan on the older AI as a precaution, and I've not found any signs of corrupted files, any hint of Sendak's crystal having infiltrated the AI in any way - being completely isolated from the rest of the castle's systems did indeed protect the AI from harm - and I'm not seeing any signs so far of file corruption due to age or disuse. I'll be running a deeper scan after we fire up what I'm calling Hys 2.0, this later AI, to see if I can find any hints on the first AI - Hys 1.0 - of where King Alfor was going with his experiment. And the deeper scan should better help me understand how Hys 2.0 works, and I'll better be able to compare any advancements in programming between the two AIs."

Coran politely motioned for Allura to sit on Hys' old bed, choosing to stand himself. "I don't suppose both AIs can run at the same time in here?"

"Actually, yes they can," Pidge answered. "While this terminal in here may not look like much, it's actually very sophisticated and powerful. The holographic projector in here is, well, I won't say yet that it's more powerful than the King's was, but it's got the capability to run both AIs at the same time. They can even talk to each other. I mean literally talk to each other, hold a conversation we can hear and take part in, not just file swap between themselves. But I need to study the system more before we get too fancy. I've become rather proficient with Altean tech," Pidge stated in a factual, not boastful manner. "But this isn't quite like anything I've seen on the ship so far, including the King's AI while it was here. It's almost like it, but just different enough to not be like it all at the same time. Your father," she said, turning to look at Allura now, "was brilliant with programming, there's no doubt about that."

Allura smiled as the other Paladins sat in chairs or on the floor cushions Coran had brought in. "Thank you Pidge. Are we all ready?" she asked.

Pidge checked a couple of readouts on her tablet. "Yes, we're ready for you to activate this terminal. I don't know if we'll see the original Hys AI first, or if the newer AI will immediately come up, because from what I can tell here, since the original AI was activated first, when you fire things up in here, the original AI will 'wake up', for lack of a better term, the newer AI."

Allura nodded. "Well then, here we go." She got up from her place on the bed to walk over to the terminal Pidge was hovering around. If the princess were to be honest, she was a little nervous now. This Hys 2.0, as Pidge was calling her, likely had memories of the war stored away. Hys had become quite more serious after the war had started. She had still been Hys of course, but she hadn't smiled or laughed nearly as often after Zarkon had begun his reign of terror. _Then again,_ she thought, _none of us smiled or laughed as much in those days. We were all experiencing far too much pain and loss._ Before her nervousness could show on her face, Allura activated the terminal. "Come out and visit with us, Hys," she said softly to the terminal, before retaking her seat on the bed.

The terminal glowed a soft blue for a few ticks, then the same AI that had appeared in Hys' old quarters materialized. "Hello Allura," she said with a smile. "I see you've brought some friends with you this time."

"Hello." Hunk waved at the AI. He tried not to stare at the hologram, who was dressed similarly in clothing style and color to Coran, but her tunic flowed to just below her knees. Her hair was more of a mix of silver and brown than what he had pictured when Coran had said her hair was a silvery brown. It was worn loose, and flowed to her waist in waves much like Allura's did when she didn't have it pinned up. "When Lance starts flirting with you, please don't be offended," he said, pointing at the Red Lion's Paladin.

The AI chuckled. "I'll let my older self know, she's ready to go now. Don't worry Allura," she said, turning back to the princess. "As I told you this morning, she'll know everything I know already. Though I don't know everything she knows. Not yet at least, but the file transfer from her to me will begin soon and then we'll both have the same knowledge. And we'll both update as time passes for as long as either of us exists. But whichever of us you talk to, it's still me." Then the AI quickly faded away, rather than flickering out like the Paladins and Coran were used to the King's AI doing. They didn't have long to consider it before the newer version of Hys appeared, bright, no flickering, and appearing so very real. "Senior Court Lady Hys, reporting as requested," she said in a no-nonsense way. "Castle systems show no threats detected within our sensor range, normal alert levels are in effect at this time." Then she turned to Allura, and the first slight hint of a smile appeared. "Princess Allura," she said with a nod. "It is good to see you again."

Allura blinked, caught off-guard by the difference in the two AIs. Where as the younger version of Hys was how Allura remembered her old friend, this Hys was dressed all in black. Trim black trousers tucked into black, calf-high boots. A crisp, black, long-sleeved shirt was tucked into those trousers, cinched at the waist with a black belt. And much to Allura's surprise, a long black coat had also materialized with the AI, the coat appearing to be draped over the desk where the terminal silently glowed. This Hys' hair was much shorter, just shoulder-length, and her face showed traces of the strain of war. But her deep blue eyes were still the same, and that gave Allura some reassurance. "And you too, Hys. I hadn't expected… well, I'm not sure what I expected. But I'm still happy to see you."

"Hys," Coran started, clearing his throat. "I don't remember ever seeing you wear this outfit before."

"Hello Coran," the AI said, smiling a little more now. "I apologize for startling you both with my appearance, but this is how I made my last recording. If you check the timestamp on the terminal," she said, motioning towards the display, "you'll see now that my very last memories here in the castle were recorded remotely from the Red Lion, just before I left on my mission from the King."

"Mission?" Allura questioned, even as Coran checked the terminal, Pidge at his side.

"Hys, this shows your last memory recording was made just after Alfor gave the command that sent the Lions away." Coran straightened up and looked at the AI, puzzled. "So you did in fact leave at the same time as the Lions?"

"Yes," she answered simply. "While I did not like the mission I was given, I took it and left." She tilted her head then. "Accessing. Ah," she said after a few moments, her expression sad. "Since the castle's archives show no indication that I returned to enter one of the pods here, I must assume I failed in my mission. At least, that I failed that part of my mission. The castle tells me we have Voltron back, so that part at least was a success."

"You keep saying mission," Shiro asked before Allura could find her voice. "What mission did the King give you?"

The AI disappeared, then reappeared directly in front of Shiro in the space of a heartbeat. "Accessing personnel files. You are not Altean."

"No, I'm human - in spite of the fact I have a Galran prosthetic. I'm Takashi Shirogane, but everyone calls me Shiro. I'm the Paladin for the Black Lion." Shiro fought the urge to step back from the AI. Though she was his height and only a hologram, Hys was a rather intimidating figure. One that was now connected to the castle's systems. _Maybe Hunk wasn't so far off about Hys being able to put us in force fields._ Then his headache started to throb more painfully, and Shiro couldn't hold back a wince.

"You're in pain," the AI said, lifting a hand to Shiro's forehead, her holographic fingers hovering less than an inch from his skin. "Sensors indicate body temperature is only slightly elevated, according to human standards, as recorded by Pidge Gunderson, Green Paladin. Wrong," she said, turning to look at Pidge. "Correct identification of the Green Paladin is Katie Holt."

"That's me," the young Paladin replied, hoping she didn't sound as nervous as she felt. "Everybody calls me Pidge though, most of the time. It's a nickname my brother gave me."

"Accessing," Hys said again, her hand still hovering just over Shiro's forehead even as she looked at Pidge. "Brother of Green Paladin, Matthew Holt. Father of Green Paladin, Samuel Holt. All three Holts are human. All Paladins are human - correction, all current Paladins are human, except for the Blue Lion's Paladin, Princess Allura." Hys turned back to Shiro, taking her hand away from his forehead. "Former Red Paladin, former Paladin of the Black Lion, Keith Kogane, is part human, part Galra. He now fights with an organization called the Blade of Marmora, which is allied with Voltron. Mother unknown, Galran. Father dead, human. Humans are from a planet called Earth, in System X-9-Y." The AI gave Shiro a confused look, then appeared directly in front of Allura just as quickly as she had Shiro. "No Lion was to go to that system, so how did these human Paladins get here? How is a former Paladin part human and part Galra, when the Empire does not extend that far? Am I missing data? The castle systems show my last memory recording was made over ten thousand years ago. Allura," the AI said, finally sounding a bit more like her younger self as her confusion became apparent. "What has happened? How badly did I fail the King?"

"Oh Hys," Allura said, reaching for the AI's hands before she realized what she was doing. "You've never failed anyone! Why would you think you've failed now?"

Hys sat down on the bed next to Allura, looking confused and sad. "Because I'm not here. I'm not alive. The castle says I'm dead, that there's been no contact from me since I left with the Lions. So I failed in my mission," she finished. "You should deactivate me, I'm a failure in what mattered most." And when Hys looked up at Allura, everyone was startled to see tears falling down the AI's face - and dropping on Allura's hands. "I failed my family."


	4. Chapter 4

_And here we are with Chapter Four! I decided to go ahead and post this chapter, since it was originally part of what ended up being the current Chapter Three. Enjoy, and please feel free to leave a comment in the review box._

* * *

Hys sat down on the bed next to Allura, looking confused and sad. "Because I'm not here. I'm not alive. The castle says I'm dead, that there's been no contact from me since I left with the Lions. So I failed in my mission," she finished. "You should deactivate me, I'm a failure in what mattered most." And when Hys looked up at Allura, everyone was startled to see tears falling down the AI's face - and dropping on Allura's hands. "I failed my family."

 _Ten thousand years earlier…_

"We need to fight!"

"We can't!" King Alfor sighed heavily. He had already had this argument with Gyrgan, as expected, and while the Yellow Paladin had acknowledged Alfor's decision, and hadn't flown off into battle alone in the Yellow Lion, he certainly hadn't accepted the decision. Obeyed it, yes. Accepted, no. And so the Paladin was in the hangar bay with his Lion, saying his goodbyes to Red, Green, Blue and Black. Now Alfor was having the argument all over again with Senior Court Lady Hys, his ward for all of her twenty-six years of living. _Too young, far too young to have to see this fall from peace. I wish I had never sent Honerva to research the rift, I should have told Zarkon to close it the moment we found it after removing the comet. None of this would have happened if the rift research hadn't happened!_

But it was the rift research that had brought the young woman standing before him into being. Strong and gifted, just like her parents who had become friends, lovers, during the rift research. And there had been benefits for everyone from the quintessence research over the years. No, it wasn't the research that had brought the Alliance to war. It was Honerva's and Zarkon's obsession with quintessence, and the influence of the dark creatures in the rift that had brought them to this point. They were too few, and the enemy too many. He and Gyrgan were the only two Paladins left, and two Paladins could not make Voltron. Even if Blatz and Trigel were still alive, there was no one to pilot the Black Lion. No Black Lion, no Voltron.

"We can find new Paladins, it's not too late! You can pilot the Black Lion, I know he'll respond to you, Your Majesty!"

 _Your Majesty,_ he thought. Hys was only this formal with his address when protocol demanded it - or when she was angry with him, but controlling her anger. He hadn't faced his ward's anger very often, and it was to her credit that she wasn't showing all of the anger he knew she had to be feeling right then. But her eyes betrayed her, flashing with that anger - and a grief he knew all too well, because that grief was in his own heart. "The Black Lion won't accept me as his Paladin," he said simply, hoping that would stop the argument.

It didn't, just as he knew it wouldn't. "You haven't even tried, Alfor!" Hys yelled, finally losing some of her control over her anger. She took a deep breath, visibly calming herself down. "Have you asked him, Your Majesty?" she asked tightly.

 _No apology for the informal address. And she shouldn't apologize. My blindness to Zarkon's obsession, to what his true intent was when he asked for Voltron to open the rift wider, claiming it was the only way to harness enough energy to close it. This war is my fault. Not for starting it, but for not preventing Zarkon taking that fateful step into darkness. My fault for not preventing this war._ "I am not worthy," he replied simply. "It is my fault that Zarkon fell to darkness. In essence, I killed Black's Paladin. How could he ever accept me?"

"With all due respect, _Your Majesty,_ " Hys bit out. "That is a load of bilmark ochshiz, and you know it. Zarkon fell because he was too weak to resist the darker side of his nature. Like Honerva, he was seduced by the power of quintessence, and neither one of them had the will to resist it." Hys stepped right up to the king then and grabbed his arm. "They didn't _want_ to resist it." Hys stared at him for several ticks, then slowly released Alfor's arm. "As long as we have the Lions, we still have a chance."

Alfor drew the young woman into his arms and hugged her tightly. _I don't want to do this, but I have to._ "That is why I have to send them away. I can't let the Lions, any of them, fall into Zarkon's hands. The only way to save ourselves, to save Voltron, is to send the Lions away. One day we'll have the strength to fight back against Zarkon. One day, we'll have Voltron again. And I'm hoping you'll help me make that happen, Hys." He stopped and took a deep breath, hoping he wasn't about to send her into danger far worse than what she would face staying at the castle. "I need you to take on a mission for me. It's a mission in two parts, and you're the one I want to do this, you and Gyrgan."

Hys straightened up, still held securely in the King's hug. "A mission, Sire?"

Alfor gave her another squeeze, then took her face in his hands and placed a light kiss on her forehead. "Yes, my daughter. No, don't argue with me. We were never able to adopt you, but Selene and I both always considered you to be our daughter just as much as Allura is. And it's for Allura and Coran both that I'm giving you this mission. Gyrgan will be leaving soon for the planet where the Yellow Lion is to be hidden, as that planet will require some heavy equipment to hide the Lion deep underground in the spot it has selected."

Hys looked at Alfor, puzzled by his words. "Wait… Yellow has decided where he wants to be hidden? Does that mean the Lions have agreed to this plan?"

Alfor nodded sadly. "Yes. Very reluctantly, but yes. Black will stay here, hidden deep within the castle. He will only be revealed and reactivated when the other four Lions are here to awaken him. The Lions will be sent to the far reaches of currently known space, far away from where Zarkon could possibly think to look. I want you to help make sure that Yellow, Blue, Red and Green are well hidden, and to leave a set of runes at each hiding place that will show the right people, the ones who are meant to be the next Paladins of Voltron, where the Lions are. As they did with us, the Lions will choose who will be their Paladin." Alfor walked away from Hys then, picking up a small box from his desk. "This contains the coordinates to the locations the Lions have picked to hide in, the runes to be placed at each Lion's hiding place, and the tools you'll need to make them. I know that Yellow told Gyrgan where he wanted to be hidden, and Yellow asked him specifically to help him hide. I think perhaps he did that to keep him from running off into battle alone, to keep him from making a last, surely suicidal stand." Alfor sighed, and seemed to grow a bit shorter to Hys' eyes, as if the weight of his decision, the weight of all they had lost was pressing him down into the floor. "The others will be hiding in places where it will be easier for them to hide, but they still need someone to make sure they are indeed well-hidden, and to place the runes to lead their future Paladins to them. Gyrgan's skill is in the construction of the hiding place for Yellow, and he has decided to live out the rest of his days as Yellow's guardian. You, Hys, have the training needed to place the runes, you know the alchemy required. These runes will look like ordinary drawings to those who are not meant to be a Paladin. But for those who are chosen, the runes will glow, and that requires Altean alchemic skill."

Hys looked at the box in her hands, not quite sure what to say. "You are far more skilled than I will ever be, my King. I can't do the things you and Allura can do." She looked up at the man who had been the only father she had ever known her entire life, wishing she could take back her hard words. "But you can't go with the Lions, take Allura and Coran with you and be safe, can you? For you to leave now would signal a complete and total surrender."

Alfor smiled sadly. "Yes. Yes it would. And while you, Coran - and I suspect when I tell her here shortly, Allura - do not agree with my sending the Lions away, please do not consider my actions surrender. There is a chance the Lions will not have to be hidden away at all, that things may change in the next few vargas. But I cannot take that chance." Alfor took a deep breath. "You will go in Red, and in his cargo bay there will be a very small, one man ship, the smallest one we have. Once all the Lions have been hidden - and Red has requested to be hidden last - take that ship and make your way back to the castle. There's a cryopod in the ship. Once you're on your way, put yourself into the pod. Since I don't know how far away Red plans to hide himself, there's a chance you'll need that pod."

"Wait. You don't know where Red is going to hide?"

"Hys, I don't know where _any_ of the Lions plan to hide. Yellow gave the coordinates to Gyrgan, and Gyrgan only, knowing that I planned to give this mission to you. Gyrgan placed the coordinates in the box you hold in your hands after I put the tools and instructions for the runes in there for you. I never saw them myself. The Lions apparently all agreed on this. And no," he said, lifting a hand to cut off any protest she might make, "I am not being punished by the Lions for my decision. This is a safety measure. I'm staying behind to make one last attempt to end this war. If I fail, then I legitimately cannot reveal their hiding places."

Hys clutched the box tightly, her eyes narrowing. "Zarkon. I know you took a transmission from him this morning in your quarters. You plan to try and reason with him one last time."

Alfor's sad smile stayed in place. _Let her think that, yes. Otherwise she will demand to stay here, and the Lions will be on their own._ "He was my friend. My brother, in some ways. I have to try and end this. If I can get him to stop this madness, then perhaps we can put all the broken and battered worlds back together. But if I can't, then the Lions will be safe. The castle ship will move from Altea if necessary, but most likely this is where the encrypted homing signal the castle will put out will guide your ship back to. The pod in the ship you're taking is programmed to awaken you once the ship signals you have landed. Once you're back here in the castle, go to the pods. Again, if I have failed, you will find Coran and Allura in cryo sleep there, waiting for the day the Lions return. I have connected Allura's life force to the Lions, she will be able to find the other Lions once the first one returns, no matter which Lion it may be. I want you here with her and Coran to protect and watch over them both. If any threat comes to the castle before the Lions, you will be awakened. You will be able to control the castle's defenses from the bridge by yourself, but if you need to wake Coran and Allura, you will be able to do so." Alfor hugged Hys again. "Take care of your little sister, and may the Sages of Oriande protect you all. May you all feel my love around you always." Once again he kissed her forehead, and held his daughter of the heart as long as possible. "Never forget that you are my daughter in all the ways that matter, and I have, and will always love you, Hys. And I hope to see you again soon."

Hys nodded, and kissed King Alfor's cheek, not trusting herself to speak at first. "How soon do I leave?"

Alfor's sad smile became a touch sadder. "Immediately, I'm afraid. I'm hoping for the best to happen, but I can't take that chance. If Zarkon is too close by when the Lions leave - "

Hys nodded. "I understand. I'll go change into something that won't identify me as someone from the castle. Just in case."

"Just in case."

"I'll be in Red in ten dobashes, no later."

"I know."

Hys started to walk away, intending to rush straight to her room, change clothes and head straight to the Lions, knowing that time was of the essence. But she stopped, and turned back to face her King.

Her father of her heart.

"No."

Alfor blinked in surprise. "No? You're disobeying a direct order? You're refusing an order from your King?"

Hys took a deep breath and chose her words carefully. Deep in her heart, she knew that leaving this very moment was not the right thing to do. "I'm not disobeying, I'm merely… employing a strategic delay."

"A delay."

Hys steeled herself. "Yes. If you are successful in persuading Zarkon to end this war, then with the Lions still here, we can begin immediate rescue and repair operations. And I will be here to help man the infirmary, to deal with the wounded who are already here on Altea, and who continue to need treatment." She placed her hand on his arm, her eyes pleading for Alfor to understand. "You know better than I do that we do not have anywhere near enough pods to heal all of the wounded, and those pods that we could spare from the castle are scattered all over the planet. We're looking at a massive operation here once the war ends, and we'll need everyone's help. You know this."

"We need to make sure Zarkon never gets the Lions if I fail."

"And we _will_ make sure of it. If things start to go badly, the Lions can leave then while Zarkon is counting on your surrender, instead of paying attention to what we're doing. Evacuations of the wounded can be done while he's distracted. The Lions can help with that if need be. I know why you're doing what you're doing, even if I think it's wrong. But… shouldn't sending the Lions away be the absolute last resort?"

Alfor started to issue a hard order, force Hys to obey him for what he prayed was her own good, when a hard purr sounded in his mind. Surprised, he stared at Hys and realized she heard it too.

 _-The child is right, my Paladin-_

"Red?" Alfor couldn't believe it, but he knew Red's touch on his mind.

 _-She is right, Alfor. We must stay until all is lost. We have seen this. It is why we chose our hiding places ourselves. There are many paths before us all, but we must stay here until either you succeed, or we must leave. If we leave now, all is lost before it is begun. Yellow Paladin will stay also, the ship of supplies is on auto pilot and already underway.-_

"But if Zarkon sees you leaving - "

 _-He will not see. He is blind to all that is not of his plan. He will not see. I will protect the child, she will stay with me. I promise, my Paladin.-_

Alfor sighed, once again pulling Hys into a tight hug. "Go change, and go to Red. Be aware he may have to take you into battle before this is over, but you'll be safe with him. If all goes well, I will see you soon, my dear."

Hys nodded, and this time she did go directly to her room. It only took her a few dobashes to change into an all-black outfit, made for comfort, protection, and stealth. She didn't have many keepsakes in her room, but she quickly and carefully stashed what little she had into a hidden safe located in floor of her closet. She started to leave, but stopped and looked at her terminal.

"One last memory recording, while there's time," she said to herself, taking a thin metal headband out of her desk drawer, draped her long black coat over the desk, then sat down in front of her terminal. "Begin record."

One varga later and it was done. She had last done a memory recording the quintant before, so it hadn't taken long at all for the terminal to scan her current appearance and record her memories since the last recording. If Allura or Coran came into her room looking for her, they would see the terminal still up and running, and would know of the King's plan, and why she was gone, if things went badly. Hys started to put away the headband, but tucked it into her coat instead. "Just in case," she said quietly to herself, and hoped it wouldn't be the last time she recorded memories in this room, or anywhere else for that matter. She paused in the doorway, shrugged on her coat, then commanded, "Save recording. Seal room. Senior Court Lady Hys, authorization SCLH-26."

 _Five vargas later…_

"Keep the evacuations going, Zarkon's fleet will be here in less than ten dobashes!" Hys looked around her as the last of the people in the hospital fled with what medical supplies they could carry to any shuttles or ships available.

"Lady Hys!" a breathless young man ran up to her, a medical backpack slung over one shoulder that looked like it should weigh three times what he did. "This is the last ship here, you need to leave now too! We'll figure out some place safe to set up once we're out of the system and we'll send you the coordinates, you and the castle."

Hys' heart jumped, and she shook her head. "No. No, you can't. If any of Zarkon's forces hear that transmission, they'll hound you all to hell." She put both hands on his shoulders and looked to see if anyone was nearby who could possible overhear them, though with all of the screams and shouts, she very much doubted anyone could. "You're Lorne, correct?" At the young man's nod, she took a breath and forced as much calmness and firmness into her voice as she could. "Lorne… our fleet is being decimated. I've been sent a transmission, Emperor Zarkon is demanding total surrender of our planet, our people, and of Voltron. King Alfor of course, is not going to surrender. But our fleet - " her words were cut off as an alarm sounded in her helmet comm. "Lorne, we'll find you, but if the worst should happen, do not, I repeat, do _not_ try to signal the castle or me as to your location. Zarkon cannot be allowed to find any of you."

Lorne opened his mouth to protest, but it died on his lips as he stared into Hys' eyes. "We've lost."

"Only for now," Hys assured him, hoping against hope she wasn't lying to him. "Zarkon will never be able to extinguish the light of goodness, justice, or peace. He may indeed have a victory at the moment, but it will not last. Light can never be completely snuffed out, not so long as a single Altean, or anyone who believes in what is good still lives." She gave what she hoped was a reassuring squeeze to his shoulder. "We will be back. Voltron will be back too. Zarkon's time on the throne of his ill-gotten and grown empire is limited. We _will_ have peace and freedom again."

Lorne looked down at his feet, then after a few ticks, he looked back up to meet Hys' gaze. "May the Sages of Oriande protect and guide us all." Then he bowed deeply. "Safe journey to you, my Lady Hys."

Hys watched him run off with his supplies to the last waiting ship. Comm activity confirmed for her that everyone had been evacuated from hospitals, and from several villages. But there was not going to be enough time or ships to evacuate everyone. And many people were refusing to evacuate, determined to make a desperate last stand to save Altea.

 _-Come now, child. You cannot save everyone. We cannot.-_

"But there's still so many people left, I can't - "

 _-You must. We must. We have a promise to keep, even if we didn't want to keep it. Don't want to keep it. But we will. We will hide.-_

"And so many will suffer and die while we hide," Hys said bitterly. "Because of one man's greed and senseless evil." Her heart heavy, Hys climbed into Red, settling dejectedly into the pilot's seat as the Lion headed back to the castle for any last orders from the King.

 _-But many will live. We have seen this. You just saved that young cub and all with him by telling him not to give away their location. It is a future we saw. They will survive. We will return one day. You told him the truth.-_

 _A hard, bitter truth,_ she thought. If only she were a true Paladin, not just someone sitting in the pilot's seat! Red was the fastest of the Lions, if she were a Paladin, they could enter the fight -

A growl she felt in her heart, rather than heard, vibrated through her entire body. Red _wanted_ to fight! But he knew it would be in vain, the odds were stacked too highly against them. Hys felt the emotions pouring through the Lion, never fully realizing before this moment just how very sentient the Lions of Voltron were. Knowing it intellectually from her work with Coran and Alfor when the Lions needed repairs was one thing. To _feel_ it though, was a combination of exhilaration and a bit of fear. And in that moment, she realized that Zarkon had never truly accepted that Black was anything other than a magnificent fighting machine. If he ever had, then maybe, just maybe, he wouldn't have fallen to the seductive song of quintessence, and the evil creatures that existed within the rift.

Then she felt another growl, but this one was a chorus. _All_ of the Lions wanted to fight! But without Paladins, they couldn't. As powerful, as sentient they were, they needed Paladins. And even if she could have been a Paladin, there would still be two more needed. Voltron still could not be formed. And to win this war, they needed all five Lions. They needed five Paladins.

But there were only two.

Maybe the war could be won without forming Voltron. Hys felt it could. She was sure Coran and Allura felt the same way. But Alfor could not be disobeyed in this matter - they all loved and respected him too much. "Quiznak," she muttered. "Ochshiz!"

"Hys," came Alfor's voice. "I'm ordering the Lions to go hide now. Coran is taking Allura to a cryopod. His pod is set for him as well, he has only to enter it after Allura is asleep."

"What about you, Alfor? You should be in a pod as well, I can watch over all three of you after I help hide the Lions - "

"I will not require a pod. I'm going to face Zarkon myself, I'm going to try and end this. Red… I am truly honored to have been your Paladin. Please keep my daughter safe. Return to us when the time is right. Leave now, and safe journey."

"Alfor? Alfor!" Hys screamed, even as Red circled the castle ship. Then she realized the transmission from the King had not come from inside the castle, but outside. "He's…" Hys couldn't bring herself to speak what her heart was telling her. King Alfor of Altea, the only father she had ever known, was going to face Emperor Zarkon by himself, one on one combat. There would be no reasoning with Zarkon, only a battle to the death. "Victory or death," she muttered. "Alfor would be willing to let Zarkon live. But Zarkon…"

 _-Dear cub-_

"He'll die out there! We can't leave him!"

 _-If we don't leave, his death will be in vain. He may yet defeat Zarkon.-_

"And then that witch will find a way to kill him. Oh Red…" Hys shoved her hands in the pockets of her long black coat to keep herself from trying to punch something inside of Red's cockpit, startled when her left hand touched something metallic. "The headband," she murmured, belatedly remembering having stuck it in her pocket before she left her quarters. Numbly she slipped it on, then opened a private transmission channel. "Transmit memories starting from end time of last recording. Save recording only to terminal in my quarters, then deactivate this device. Use last visual of myself from inside my quarters as final AI image." Hys closed her eyes, knowing the recording would take no more than thirty ticks, a dobash or two at the most. With her last recording being so recent, this one covering only a few vargas would go very quickly. With a heavy heart she gave her final command to the terminal in her sealed quarters on board the castle. "Senior Court Lady Hys, authorization SCLH-26."

 _Present time…_

"That is the end of my recorded memories, Allura. I'm not here with you in the castle ship, and according to the ship's records, I never returned. Therefore I must have failed your father." The AI gave Allura a pained look. "I failed you, sister."

"Look at me, Hys," Allura commanded the AI gently, but firmly. "Look at me, sister." Once the AI had complied, Allura gave her a sad smile. "Coran and I are here and alive. We have Voltron again, and many of the worlds, the people who were enslaved by Zarkon have been freed, and we're freeing more worlds all the time. You helped to hide the Lions, Zarkon didn't get them back, he didn't get the Black Lion back. We have Paladins now. _I'm_ a Paladin now. Father made his choice to give us the best chance possible, the best chance he knew how to give us at the time, to be able to see this day. You didn't fail anyone. Not Father, not Coran, not me. Your programming may not allow you to see that, but that's only because we don't know what happened after you left in Red. But you obviously succeeded."

"She's right, Hys," Coran said softly, walking over to where the AI continued to sit beside Allura, her holographic hands still held inside of Allura's very real hands. "Think about it logically. If you had failed, Zarkon would have found us and the Lions ten thousand years ago, and we wouldn't be having this conversation now."

"Zarkon might have even taken over Earth thousands of years ago, well before we had achieved any sort of technology that would even register as primitive to the Galra Empire," Pidge put in. "We're here now. Zarkon isn't. And there's peace with at least some of the Galra."

The AI looked at Pidge, studied her. "You are so very young, Katie Holt. But there is truth to your words." Hys turned back to Allura then. "I need to sort out the files I have access to now. It will take a little time to sift through ten thousand years of data. But if you deem my existence to still be worthy of continuing… I'll be here." And before Allura could say anything more, the AI quickly faded away, the last part of her to disappear being the holographic tears that had fallen on Allura's hands.

After several moments, it was Hunk who found his voice first. "You held her hands," he said simply. "Like she was real, living and breathing."

Allura nodded, staring at her hands. "It was as if she was here and not here all at once. My hands sort of… sank into her, I guess is the best way to explain it." _Father succeeded, at least in part. I *did* touch her. I felt her tears! Oh Hys…_

"You could hear the pain in her voice. I didn't think holograms could do that. I mean, you could hear it some in King Alfor's voice sometimes," Lance put in. "But not like this."

"I'm getting some seriously crazy detailed data from the scan I was running on her operations while she was in here," Pidge said, her eyes still riveted to her tablet. The slight tremor of excitement in her voice spoke volumes. "Allura, I think your father was extremely close to achieving creating a holographic AI that could be completely solid. If he'd had another year or two - maybe not even that long." She looked up at everyone then, her gaze finally settling on Coran. "It's going to take me a long time to sift through all of this information."

"Understood. Thank you, Pidge," Coran replied, a small smile crossing his face. "Anything you need from me, just let me know."

Pidge nodded, heading off to the lab to study the information her scans had given her. Hunk, Shiro, and Coran excused themselves from the room, all feeling that Allura needed some time alone. Lance went to follow them, but stopped at the door. "Allura?"

"Yes Lance?"

"I uh," he started. "If you want, I could ask Red what happened. I could see what he remembers. Assuming his memory files from then weren't corrupted when Sendak captured him." At Allura's nod, he turned towards the door again. "You didn't tell her Red had been captured."

Allura sighed, staring at her hands, still feeling the faint trace of the mild tingle the AI's hands had given her. "I couldn't. She'll find out once she sorts out all of the data. If she hasn't already." She looked over to Lance finally. "She didn't fail any of us."

Lance nodded, then left the room. He could see why the AI would assume the real Hys had failed in her duties. After all, she was supposed to return to the castle to be with Allura and Coran. She was supposed to help hide the Lions. If she had already accessed the data about how the Red Lion was found, she would assume - or logically conclude, being a program and not a real, living being - that she had failed. How else could the Galra have found Red, after all?

The young Paladin sighed. Of all the things they had faced since leaving Earth, one thing he never thought he would ever be trying to do was comfort and console a program. A highly sophisticated one to be sure, but still a program. _So real though,_ he thought. _I felt her pain. I think we all did._ And whether it was logical or not, whether it made sense or not, he wanted to give the AI some comfort if he could. He needed to, for whatever reason. Lance wandered the hallways, lost in his thoughts until several minutes later he found himself in the hangar bay, standing in front of the Red Lion. "Buddy," he began, laying a hand on a massive metal paw. "I really need to talk to you."

Red's eyes lit up and glowed, and the Lion lowered his head, opening his mouth so that Lance could enter the cockpit. A gentle rumbling purr sounded in Lance's head, a purr that he could feel throughout his entire body. Comfort and warmth emanated from the majestic machine, wrapping up Lance in a warm embrace. _-Cub. My Paladin. You are troubled.-_

Lance swallowed, letting himself enjoy Red's warmth a few moments longer. He had never imagined that his connection with Red would ever be this strong, not with how strong Keith and Red had been linked, not with how strong his own connection with Blue had been. And still was, even though he was no longer Blue's Paladin. He wondered if what he was feeling was like what Hys had felt that fateful day she left with Red and the other Lions, if she had been given comfort by Red like this even though she wasn't a Paladin.

 _-You know of Alfor's other cub? You know of young Hys?-_

"Yes," Lance said. "Allura stumbled across her AI early this morning. It's safe," he assured Red, feeling a surge of tension from the Lion. "Hys' AI was completely isolated from the castle's systems, so there was no infection from Sendak's crystal, it's safe. She's connected with the castle systems now, but Pidge is going to come up with something to make sure she's protected in case the systems are ever attacked again. Red," he said, screwing up the courage to press on with the question he needed answered. "Red, she left with you, right? She was to leave those cave drawings, those runes we found with Blue, Yellow and Green. She left those, didn't she? She didn't fail her mission like she thinks she did, right?"

Lance was startled by the sigh from Red. - _Young Hys did not fail anyone, my Paladin. I failed to keep her safe.-_ Lance sucked in a quick breath as emotions from Red flew around him. Sadness. Grief. Guilt. Oh, so much guilt! _-I can tell you some of the story, my cub. But some of it I cannot. I will tell you what I can though.-_

And with that, Lance found himself seeing the past through Red's eyes.


	5. Chapter 5

_A quick thank you to my faithful readers, I hope you're enjoying everything so far. A special thank you to ChocolateMonkey19, thank you for reviewing! Now, on to Chapter Five. :)_

* * *

"Amazing," Pidge muttered to herself, only a few minutes into her reading of the AI's data and already finding herself wishing there was a word greater than 'genius' to describe the pure elegance of King Alfor's programming. "I really wish I had known him."

"Known who?" Coran's voice broke into Pidge's thoughts. Pidge glanced over her shoulder at the Altean as he entered the computer lab.

"King Alfor. Coran, I don't have words for the sheer brilliance I'm seeing here so far in the AI's programming, and I'm just at the beginning. The only thing that compares are the Olkari and the organic programming they can do. It's… It's beautiful, Coran!"

Coran smiled, Pidge's enthusiasm over his old friend's work bringing back fond memories. "You would have gotten along with Alfor quite nicely, I think. And Hys. She thought the world of him and asked him questions every chance she got about alchemy and programming. You two would have been - what is your Earth saying? Peas in a pod, is that it?"

Pidge chuckled, then leaned closer to the terminal monitor as a stray bit of code caught her eye. "Yeah, that's it." _File degradation showing up already, after that impressive display in Hys' old room? Is the AI unstable?_

"Something wrong, Pidge?"

"Some stray bits of code just showed up - well, now they're gone! Quiznak!"

"Is something wrong with Hys?" Coran asked. His stomach clenched at the thought of possibly losing this link to the past so soon.

Pidge stared at more lines of code for several moments then relaxed slightly, though the frown did not leave her face. "I don't think so. I could have sworn that I saw some stray code hop up here, something that didn't seem to be a part of the AI's programming, but it's gone now. And before you ask, it was Altean, not Galran. Almost like something just randomly inserted in there, but not a part of the actual program." Pidge studied the lines of code more intently, Coran now looking over her shoulder. "I've only just started, this is going to take a while."

"Quite a while," Coran nodded. Even with as familiar as he was with Alfor's work, this was far more complex than anything he had ever seen, save for the coding he saw in the early days of the Lions construction. "But not anything connected to Sendak?"

"Not a thing," Pidge replied distractedly, her mind already sinking deep into the programming. If there were any such thing as programming being as delicious as the best chocolate in the universe times infinity, then surely this programming would be it. Pidge found herself wishing her brother and father were there with her to share it with. If anyone besides Coran could appreciate the complexity of the coding and the skills needed to write it, they would. "It might not even have been stray coding, now that I think about it. I mean, this is far more complex than anything we've come across so far here in the castle. It's definitely all Altean programming, Altean lines of code, but with a strong influence of something else. Maybe Altean alchemy, it's too early for me to be sure yet." Pidge sighed, and set up a series of auto scans for analyzing and comparing the two AIs. "I've got to check our defense upgrades that I installed before breakfast, make sure that everything updated correctly. The last thing we need is a nasty surprise from one of the Galra factions who want us and Lotor out of the picture. The scans I just set will - "

"Keith calling the Castle of Lions, do you read?"

"Keith!" Pidge shouted, then put the former Paladin's transmission up on a screen so both she and Coran could see and speak to the young man. "Where have you been, we've not heard from you in so long! There's a lot to update you on here."

Keith chuckled, he could just see the flickering of screens behind Pidge and Coran, which told him the young tech genius was hip-deep in a project. "I've got a lot to update you on too, Pidge. Listen, I'm going to try and get to the castle for a quick visit, but I can't make any promises just yet. Kolivan is waiting for a report from one of his operatives, and I don't know if we'll be heading out after we hear from the guy or not. But if not, then Kolivan has cleared me to come by for a quick visit."

"I hope you can make it here. Allura found another AI here in the castle. Well, two of them, but one is the older version of her governess, the other younger, and King Alfor was a freakin' genius with this programming! The AI was completely isolated from the castle," she quickly put in, seeing the look of alarm on Keith's face. "So no corrupted or evil AI stuff happening, don't worry."

Keith's face plainly showed the relief he felt as he smiled. "No rampaging food goo is imminent?"

"We are safe from food goo ambushes, never fear!" Pidge laughed. "I think Lance had been planning to flirt with the AI. His hair looked like he'd probably been combing it for hours."

Keith grinned, he could clearly imagine Lance prepping to flirt with a new pretty face, though flirting with an AI was definitely a new one. "He probably had been. I've got news for you guys too, but I want to tell you all in person. Good news, don't worry." Keith started to say more, but spotted Kolivan rushing to his communications console.

"Is something wrong, lad?" Coran asked.

"I'm not sure," Keith replied quietly, his gaze still on Kolivan. "Kolivan's been really anxious about this operative reporting in, but I don't know why. I don't know if whoever it is hasn't reported in a while, or they're in a really dangerous place. Quite possibly both. All I know is, if Kolivan could have made this guy report in by simply staring at his monitor, he would have heard from him three days ago. Kolivan says there's nothing wrong, that the operative is simply tracking down the location of more political prisoners, but…" Keith shook his head. "Maybe it's just me, but I think Kolivan is taking this one personally."

Coran nodded, a slight frown marring his features. The code of the Marmora was the mission above everything else. Kolivan tended to be very business-like when dealing with reports from operatives and assigning missions. If he was showing enough emotion for Keith to notice, then what was wrong? "You be sure to let us know if there's anything we can do, Keith. Whether Kolivan wants help or not."

"Will do," Keith answered. "Hopefully I'll see you all soon. Don't get lost in whatever programming you're doing and forget to eat, Pidge. Hear me?"

Pidge wrinkled her nose at Keith and stuck her tongue out. "I won't. I'll let everyone know you said hi!" As Keith's smiling face winked out, Pidge couldn't help but grumble. "You forget to eat one meal and get a little shaky in training, and you never hear the end of it, I swear!"

"He's just looking out for you," Coran said with a smile, carefully not mentioning that it wasn't one meal Pidge had forgotten to eat, but three in a row when she became unsteady in a particularly strenuous training session. The rest of the team had made a point from then on to check on their young tech wizard whenever she was deep into a project to ensure she didn't forget to stop to eat. _Shiro did the same thing for Keith while he was still here, when he would get so involved in training that he would forget to eat sometimes. I wonder who is looking out for Keith now?_

"Yeah, well…" Pidge grumbled. "May as well grab a snack while I go test the updates, all of this is going to be running for a long time. Where's everybody else?"

"Allura is taking a swim I believe. I told Shiro to lay down for a while, his headache seemed to be getting worse. I wish he would let us scan for a cause, maybe a better way to treat it than basic low-grade painkillers, but he says they're not as bad as they look." Coran's tone told Pidge that like her, he didn't believe Shiro for a minute. But it wasn't as if they could tie the Black Paladin down to an exam table to check him over, nor would they want to - that would be too much like what he had suffered at the hands of Haggar and her druids. "Hunk is busy fixing lunch for everyone, so perhaps you should stop to eat a meal rather than grab a snack," he suggested gently.

"Okay," Pidge muttered, but had to admit she was hungry for more than a snack when her stomach growled loud enough for Coran to hear. "Where's Lance?" she wondered, checking the castle's security system for the Red Paladin's location before the Altean could answer. "He's in Red? Why would he be there?"

Coran suspected he knew the answer. "All of you go to your Lions to strengthen your bonds with them from time to time. Lance is probably working on strengthening his with Red. Off you go then!" Coran urged Pidge out of the lab, taking one last look at the monitor that showed the Red Lion with his head resting on his metal paws. Coran sighed and shook his head. While Lance may be merely working on strengthening his bond with his Lion, the Altean advisor believed the Paladin was doing something else entirely. It hadn't escaped his notice that Lance had been the last to leave Hys' old room, leaving Allura alone with her memories.

 _Be careful lad. I'm sure you want to help, but knowing what happened may bring more pain than comfort._ Coran cast one last look at the monitors showing the results of Pidge's scans on both versions of Hys' AI, his attention caught by one monitor displaying side by side comparisons of the base coding for the AIs. "Hello, what's this? Pidge's stray lines of code?" He sat down in front of the monitor and watched the code scroll by. While he didn't have Alfor's coding prowess, he had seen enough of his friend's work to recognize an old pattern. "You hid something in Hys' AI. There's a secret file in here somewhere, this is the hint to go find it. Why? What is it? And where did you hide it?"

His communicator beeped before he could look too deeply at the clue Alfor had left behind. One of the rebel groups was reporting in and he needed to talk to them. "I'll have Pidge look at that later, after the scans are done. They might turn up whatever Alfor hid." Nodding, satisfied for the moment that everything was well in hand, he left for the bridge.

As a result, he missed seeing the image of a very tired, sad faced King Alfor pop up for just a tick on one of Pidge's monitors.

* * *

Shiro paused behind the Black Lion, wanting to lean on him for support, but refusing to because that would mean alerting Black to his headache. It had become worse while listening to the Hys AI talk about her mission - the real Hys' mission - and had simply refused to let up, even after he had agreed to Coran's suggestion that he lay down for a while and try to rest. If Black sensed his headache, he would probably alert Coran, and the Altean advisor would no doubt ask Shiro to submit to tests to try and find out why the headaches were happening so often.

 _Then again,_ he thought, _Black hasn't really talked to me since I came back. I'm sure we talked more before. He's there, he accepts me again, but…_ Shiro stopped himself, not wanting to think anymore about his fears. But the thoughts came anyway. _Black wants someone else to be his Paladin. Keith, maybe. Have I failed that badly? No, Keith needed to leave, Black took me back. Hys may or may not have failed her mission, I won't fail mine. Black is my Lion, I'm Black's Paladin._

Shiro took a few deep breaths and willed his thoughts to settle down. He didn't want to think about Black maybe preferring Keith to him. He didn't want to think about why Black didn't talk to him like he had before they had defeated Zarkon. That Black maybe had regrets about fighting against Zarkon was not an avenue of thought he wanted to pursue. He didn't want to think about his headaches. Hell, with his headaches, it was hard to think, period. And he definitely did not want to think about his confession to Lance while Allura and Lotor had been in Oriande, that he wasn't feeling like himself. He knew Lance hadn't mentioned their brief conversation to anyone because he hadn't been questioned about what he'd told Lance. _Maybe… maybe I should talk to Lance again. I've been kind of short with him lately during our missions. Yes, I'll talk to Lance, he won't tell anyone. Lance will listen to me. Lance will obey me. Lance won't give me away._

Shiro blinked and shook his head. Where had _that_ thought come from? Lance giving him away? Giving what away? His headaches? Not feeling like himself sometimes? Where was this unease coming from? "Get it together, Takashi," he muttered. "You're the leader, so get it together!"

 _-Shiro?-_ Black's touch on Shiro's mind was heavy, like several blankets piled on top of him on a hot summer's day, and he found he couldn't breathe.

"Headache," he gasped before he could stop himself. Suddenly the weight was lifted and Black's touch was comforting, even easing the pain of the headache. "Thanks," Shiro said after a minute, once he felt more in control of himself. "I didn't know you could get rid of headaches."

 _-There are many things you do not know, Shiro. Many things you hide from yourself. You need to acknowledge your truth if you wish to ease your pain.-_

Shiro grunted, staring at Black. His words were stirring up memories of labs with purple light, Galran voices surrounding him, Galran hands on him, straps holding him down to a cold metal table. "I can't afford to be lost in the past," Shiro said. "Like Hys, I have a mission to complete. I'm not going to fail mine. I can't fail mine."

 _-Hys did not fail, for you are here. We are here. There has been no failure.-_

Somehow, Black's words did not reassure Shiro. But before he could find a way to change the subject, he felt a slight rumble of concern from the Lion, but to his surprise it was concern directed at the Red Lion. "What's wrong?"

 _-Red is remembering. Red is showing his Paladin his memories.-_

Shiro frowned at the tone Black was using. "You don't approve."

The Paladin found himself actually slightly physically staggered at the wave of concern that emanated from the Black Lion. _-Red's choice would not be my choice. Some memories are too painful to share. Even if one must share the memories.-_

Shiro found he couldn't argue too much with Black's words. He certainly didn't want to share certain memories of his with the others. Then he stared more intently at the Red Lion as Black's words sank in. "He's sharing memories of the past with Lance?"

 _-Yes.-_

"Of Hys and her mission?"

 _-Yes.-_ To Shiro's surprise, the mighty Black Lion actually sighed, then settled down to rest his head on his paws, his full attention on the Red Lion. _-Perhaps it is a good choice. Not my choice. Cub Hys is not here to give permission. Not my choice. But perhaps for my brother, it is a good one.-_

Shiro wasn't sure what to say, or if he should say anything at all. The Black Lion had never spoken this way before to him, not ever that he could remember. And trying to remember if he had made his headache come back with a vengeance. "I won't interrupt them," he said softly instead, moving to go back to his quarters.

 _-Go see Coran. Get something for your pain.-_

Shiro carefully nodded and left, though he had no intention of going to the infirmary. He would lay down again instead as Coran had suggested to him earlier, and maybe his headache would finally ease off. Another nudge from Black had him promising to get something to take for the pain if it didn't ease off, or if it got worse. He could feel Black watching him leave and while it did feel like somewhat like the Lion was nagging, it comforted him at the same time to know the great mechanical beast cared for his well-being. So he left, leaving the Lions alone, all of them watching Red. He would ask Lance later what Red had shown him, if Lance felt he could share that experience.

Later.

If his blasted headache would ever go away.

* * *

"I was wondering where you were."

Lance didn't respond to Hunk's greeting, didn't acknowledge the Yellow Paladin bringing in a tray of food to the Lion hangar bay, where Lance was sitting down on the floor, leaning against one of Red's paws. "Hungry?"

"What?" Lance finally said, startled out of his thoughts at the wonderful smells drifting to him from the tray Hunk carried. "Food?" he asked, even as Hunk started to pour something similar to orange juice from a thermos into a mug for him to drink. Slowly bringing himself back into the here and now, he accepted the offered mug, then watched as Hunk continued to set up a simple lunch from the food on the tray.

"Yeah, you missed lunch. Pidge said the sensors showed you were here, so I brought down the soup and sandwiches. Coran said you might be trying to strengthen your bond with Red, so I figured it would be quicker to bring lunch to you. This root soup I learned to make on Olkarion is best when it's still nice and warm, remember?"

Lance gave a smile he didn't quite feel as he took the warm bowl of fragrant soup Hunk offered. It smelled and tasted a lot like a creamy potato soup, but slightly spicier. And the fries Hunk made from the root were heavenly, he had to admit, far better than French fries on Earth. "Yeah, thanks," replied, slowly starting to eat some of the soup. "Lost track of time, sorry," he finally said after a few minutes.

"No worries," Hunk said, being cheerful for the both of them. They sat together in companionable silence for a while as Lance ate, the Red Paladin finding his appetite returning just enough to want the soup and a sandwich, but not his usual two helpings of soup, or three of Hunk's sandwiches. "Rough bonding session?"

Lance stared down into the nearly empty bowl of soup, idly turning the spoon over and over again, sorting out his thoughts. "Not exactly," he finally answered. "Not exactly." He sighed, knowing that Hunk wouldn't pressure him for an answer, but he wanted to talk about what Red had shown him. He just wasn't sure if he could find the right words to express all the emotions. _All of Red's emotions._ He sighed again and looked up finally at Hunk. The Yellow Paladin was his rock. Their rock, a source of strength for all of them, really. He never judged you for what you were feeling, and was always willing to listen. A fierce, but gentle teddy bear was how Lance thought of Hunk. Always ready with a hug when you needed it, whether you realized it or not. And no matter how scared a situation might make him, he always had your back. "Hys didn't fail her mission," he blurted out.

"That's what Allura said, what Coran said," Hunk agreed. "If she had failed, I don't think we'd all be here." Hunk studied Lance's face. "She really got to you, didn't she?"

"Yes. More than that," Lance said, setting aside the nearly empty bowl of soup, ignoring the sandwich that still waited for him. " _Allura_ got to me. When the AI blinked out, there was a really sad look in Allura's eyes. She was hurting for Hys, wanting to comfort her. But for as impressive as that AI is, she's still just a program, a really, really sophisticated hologram. She's not the real thing. And Allura's taking it hard, I could see it in her eyes."

Hunk settled back against Red's paw. "She'll be okay. Allura got hit with a lot of stuff in just a few hours; it's going to take time to sort out everything, you know?" Hunk smiled at Lance. "I think it's pretty sweet you want to help her, and Hys. That's why you came here, isn't it? To talk things out with Red, maybe get some sage ancient Lion advice?"

Lance chuckled a bit. "Oh great and powerful Red Lion, lend me your wisdom?"

"Something like that," Hunk grinned.

Lance looked up at Red, sending a reassuring mental hug to his Lion, and feeling it, and gratitude flowing back to him through their link. "I didn't come here looking for wisdom. I came looking for answers." Lance closed his eyes, wanting to feel assurance from Red that he could share what he'd been shown. After a few ticks, he got it, though he could feel a bit of reluctance from the Lion. _Nobody will blame you for anything, Red._

 _-I blame myself, cub. I failed.-_

 _If you had failed, we wouldn't be here._

Lance felt the sad, but grateful chuckle from the mighty Lion. _-Yellow's Paladin was right about words of wisdom. Words of wisdom from my cub. Thank you, Lance.-_

Lance felt a warmth grow in his heart. Red rarely called him by his name. More often than not, he was called 'Paladin' or 'cub'. He knew every Lion interacted with their Paladin in their own way - Black had been calling Shiro by his name rather than 'cub' ever since they'd found him after his escape from wherever he'd been held after their battle with Zarkon. But for Red to call him by his name felt so intimate, so… warm. He held on to that feeling for a few moments before opening his eyes and looking at Hunk. "Red showed me the past. Hys' mission, after I told him what the AI said, that she must have failed. Hunk," he said, putting his hand on the Yellow Paladin's arm, "Red has been feeling like _he_ failed ten thousand years ago."

"What? Why?"

Lance started to gather up the remains of lunch, Hunk automatically arranging everything on the tray as they made quick work of tidying up. "I think I should tell everyone at the same time, but the short of it is, Red had to leave Hys with Blue. It was the only way to save them, two Galra cruisers were heading their way. Blue was damaged. Red took off to lead the cruisers away from her and Hys. Nobody failed - things just didn't quite go to plan."

Hunk mulled over this bit of news as they made their way back to the kitchen. "That would probably explain why Sendak had Red. Maybe."

Lance led the way into the kitchen, automatically pulling out containers to store the lunch leftovers in. "I guess it does. I mean, Red ended up not hiding in the place he had originally planned to hide in. But Sendak maybe would have stumbled across him even if he'd been hidden where it was planned. Hunk," Lance started, then stopped to gather himself. "It's like Hys' AI said, Blue wasn't supposed to be hidden on Earth. If everything had gone to plan, we wouldn't be here. Shiro, Matt, Commander Holt - they would probably still be Galra prisoners, at least the Commander and Shiro probably would be. Maybe the rebels would still have freed Matt. Or maybe not, maybe the Galra wouldn't have come to our solar system if they hadn't been tracking down Blue. But Red says that we're the Paladins they were waiting for."

Hunk mulled that over as he stored the leftovers. "Then… maybe things happened exactly the way they were supposed to happen. Which would definitely mean that nobody failed."

"That's what I told Red. I'm not sure he's convinced. Maybe we were supposed to end up being Paladins, but in a different way." Lance picked up the sandwich he hadn't eaten and sat down at the kitchen island, Hunk settling down beside him. "Mama always said that things have a way of working out they way they're supposed to be, even if you don't get there by the straight road."

"Maybe that's what you should tell Allura, so she can tell Hys."

"Yeah," Lance mumbled, chewing thoughtfully on his sandwich. "I just wish…"

"You could tell Hys that. The real one."

"Yeah."

Hunk sat back and watched Lance finish his sandwich, but his mind was elsewhere. If things _had_ gone as planned, would they truly have become Paladins of Voltron? Maybe later on, when they were all a bit older and had more experience, rather than as Garrison cadets who were still very much in training? Or would Zarkon's forces have come to Earth no matter whether the Blue Lion had been hiding there or not, seeking to expand the Galra Empire? Would that have been how they would have become Paladins? Or would a deep space mission have done it? He fought back a shudder, as an image of them, Lance, Pidge, Keith, Shiro and himself on a mission gone wrong, being captured by the Galra and forced to fight in Zarkon's arena to entertain the evil emperor came to his mind. _Some things are meant to be, Dad always said. You just have to make the best of what life hands you, and when you need to, fight to make it better._ Hunk mulled things over a bit, then sat up. "Hys had a cryopod with her. Just because she didn't make it back here doesn't mean she didn't make it somewhere. Maybe she's still around somewhere, frozen like Coran and Allura were."

Lance shook his head sadly. "Red doesn't think so. Without something to keep the cryopod powered up and running, it would eventually stop working, and Hys would have died in her sleep. Hunk, that's what is tearing him up the most right now. That after helping Blue hide - and she had to have done it because we saw the runes - Hys tried to make it back to the castle, but her ship didn't have enough fuel to make it. And that she was in her pod, didn't know she wasn't going to make it. He's afraid her ship crashed somewhere and she died never knowing what happened, never having a chance to save herself." His voice hitched slightly then. "He's afraid she died alone."

"Oh Lance…"

Lance shook his head. "Nothing that can be done about that now. I prefer to think she landed somewhere and managed to live out the rest of her life peacefully. Probably sounds a bit like that girl in that movie Veronica had me watch one time. Pollyanna, I think her name was. I think it was a book first. But that's what I want to think. It's what I want Allura and Coran to think." He looked at Hunk, finding he'd grabbed the Paladin's hand at some point. "They're both hurting enough already. The AI too. Am I right?"

Hunk nodded, patting his friend's hand in what he hoped was a reassuring manner. "Then that's what we'll tell them. That we believe she found a safe place to live the rest of her life in peace. We won't consider anything else having happened to Hys."

"Exactly. Now… I guess the thing to figure out is when to tell them what Red told me. And Pidge and Shiro, I think everybody needs to hear the story all at the same time."

"Maybe wait for when Keith gets here. Pidge said he called in a couple of vargas ago, he's hoping to come back for a visit soon, he's just waiting to see if Kolivan is going to need him for anything."

Lance smiled. "Mullet's coming back? Good, then I'll wait for him, everybody finds out at once, and we make sure that Allura and Coran know that Hys likely found some nice little country pasture type of planet and got married, had kids, had a good life out of reach of the Galra. And make sure the AI knows that too."

With that, the Red and Yellow Paladins put their heads together to figure out something new to make for dinner out of the various roots, vegetables and fruit they had from Olkarion. It was far better to think positive, to be a couple of Pollyannas as Lance put it, than to think the worst. But neither one could completely dismiss the knot in their stomachs, that someone who meant so much to Allura, Coran, and as evidenced by Red's emotions, the Lions, could have died afraid and alone.

And with just a single look between them, both Paladins silently agreed that they would do everything they could to make sure Allura and Coran would not meet that kind of an end.


	6. Chapter 6

_Thank you everyone for your patience. Between job hunting and a couple of hurricanes, things have been a wee bit scrambled around here. Add in some characters who decided to be rather vocal, and this chapter ended up with a mind of its own. Please enjoy! :)_

* * *

 _A few months earlier…_

He woke again in a darkened room, a faint purple glow that seemed to come through a dense, heavy fog the only indication that there was any power at all in the room where he was locked up. Or cell. He wasn't sure what the room was. He wasn't sure where he was, or how long he had been there. Everything was blurred in his mind, whether from injury, torture, or drugs, he wasn't sure. He'd been fighting, he could remember that clearly enough. A hard battle, voices yelling around him, but he wasn't sure who they were.

He wasn't completely sure who _he_ was, as fuzzy as his mind was. Every time he felt he was getting close to everything coming into focus, they would come for him again. There would be pain. Needles in his body. Electrical shocks. Drugs. More pain.

Nightmares. Always there were the nightmares. He'd often wake up, drenched in sweat, knowing that he had been screaming someone's name, but he could never remember who or why. But he knew it was someone he was terrified of losing. More than one someone, he felt sure of that, but the nightmares were always gone in a flash of remembered light, pain, and screaming.

Purple skinned hands. Fingers like claws; aged, bony, purple hands, always reaching for him. Sometimes other hands would be reaching for him, holding him down, pulling him, pushing him, hurting him. But always that one particular set of hands was clear - the ones that reached for him, a raspy voice calling for him their constant companion. Yelling at him. Laughing at him. The claw-fingers stroking his face, raking through his hair. The voice almost gentle. Almost. Soothing him, but not meaning any of the comfort offered. Then the claws would scratch him, yank his hair, stab into his side like jagged daggers, and somehow they would shoot more of that electric shock kind of pain into him, but worse. And always a harsh, deadly laugh after that particular pain. "Heal him," the raspy voice would say. That much he remembered clearly. That voice would want him to live to be tortured another day.

Purple hands were bad.

"Please don't hate me! Please!"

That voice was new, he was almost certain. At least, it was new in the faint snatches of memories he was trying to grab hold of. A young voice. Not the raspy voice, which might have been a woman's voice. This voice was young. Male, he thought. Familiar. Friendly, some part of his mind said. _I know that voice, he's my friend. Isn't he? But who is he? Why is he scared? Why would I hate him?_ He thought it had something to do with the purple hands, but why? Something in his heart told him the new voice wasn't an enemy, and would never hurt him. So why was it afraid of being hated? Of him hating him? He didn't think the voice had purple hands. Why couldn't he remember?

His mind was clearing. His mind was clearing, which meant he would be drugged and tortured soon. Would those purple claw fingers be here this time? That raspy, cold voice? Why couldn't he move? Why couldn't he see?

"Put her in here, I'll be back to question her. Don't let down your guard around her, she's tried to escape before."

He recognized that voice too. Always that voice before his torture would begin, before the drugs would be injected, before his mind would be clouded over and he would be lost in his nightmares. At least, it was always this voice in the memories he could try to chase after. His gut told him there had been other voices before this one. But this time was different, he was certain of it. They were bringing someone else in to be questioned? While he was there? His heart skipped, stopped, started again. _He said her. Is she a friend? Have they brought in one of my friends? Are they going to torture her in front of me? Or me, in front of her?_ The panic triggered a rush of adrenaline, bringing unexpected clarity. He couldn't move because he was strapped down to a table of some sort. He couldn't see because there was a heavy cloth over his eyes. Yes, like every time before. He was sure now he'd been blindfolded every time before. That was why the bit of purple light he could see seemed to be coming through a heavy fog, it was just barely filtering through his blindfold. But his mind was clearing a little faster this time. He didn't know who was being brought in, but he had to help them if he could. He knew he couldn't let them be tortured like he had been. Even if he couldn't remember exactly what had been done to him. Remembering the pain was bad enough.

 _My arm. My right arm. If I could only move my right arm!_

"If you think you'll break me, you're just as wrong now as you have been all the other times before when you _questioned_ me, Vaz," came the female voice. Not the raspy voice, this voice was younger. Younger, defiant, spirited… and tired. Weak? Hurt?

 _Pidge? Allura? Wait, why do I know those names? Who are they? Why do I care for them? It's right there… Glasses. White hair. I know them, but how? I can't let them be hurt, I can't let the purple hands get them!_

He heard a shuffling and the harsh clanking of chains as someone was dragged into wherever he was. A grunt, a moan, then the sickening thud of a body falling to the floor. "What about the specimen, Commander Vaz?"

"Tiron will be in for him in a varga," came the reply. "He's to be allowed to recover enough to be aware of his trip. High Priestess Haggar wants him brought to her this time, for him to see what has been done thanks to his… donation," the Commander said with a sickening laugh. "You will guard both prisoners until Tiron and I return. His ship is ready, the prisoner's belongings have been loaded, it's merely a matter of Tiron finishing the last of his duties here before leaving to deliver the prisoner to the High Priestess. As for you, scum." There was a rattling of the chains, and another dull thud, the sound of a body falling to the floor. "You'll be taking the specimen's place in here for a while. You should thank me, this is a larger room than your last one. And look! You even have a bed!" said the voice with a cruel laugh, and a hard thumping of the table he was bound to.

He heard someone leave, the one called Vaz, he assumed. He heard footsteps coming towards him. "Druid work was done on you, human. I almost pity you, that had to hurt."

"You wouldn't understand pity," came the female voice again. "Then again, you wouldn't understand basic kindness, or decency. You have no honor."

"What would Blade filth know about honor?"

He heard the woman - or was she a girl? - make a scoffing sound, then say something he couldn't quite make out. "What was that?" the guard demanded. He heard the guard move closer to the table he was on, heard the clink-clank of chains, the sounds of someone being dragged, then felt a hard thud as something hit the side of the table he was bound to. "Answer me, scum! Stand up on your traitorous legs and answer me!"

"I'll be just a dobash, friend," came a soft, barely audible female whisper to his ear.

 _Friend? She knows me?_

He didn't even have a second to think about it further as he heard what sounded like a rush of wind, followed by a startled yelp, and another thud against his table, much harder than the first, accompanied by a deep, pained groan. "Stay right there, idiot," the woman's voice came again, but he was sure she was talking to the guard. At least he hoped it was the guard she considered to be an idiot. "There we go," she said, and he heard chains rattling again. "Let's see how you like being in shackles and chains. Oh," she said, removing his blindfold. "Be careful opening your eyes, it's bright in here. I hope you don't mind if I use your blindfold to shut this idiot up."

He cracked open his eyes just a bit, thinking to turn his head to the side before he did so that he wouldn't be hit full blast by any overhead lights. Through his lashes, he saw a purple-skinned woman with dark, silver-streaked, badly chopped hair that looked as if it was staying on her head through sheer force of will. What of it that remained was anywhere from shaved close to her skull to just past her shoulders. She was dressed in a black one-piece suit with a ragged purple shirt pulled over it, the suit and shirt both bearing old stains of dirt and blood. _Galran blood,_ his mind supplied, though he wasn't sure where that particular bit of information came to him from. But he knew in his gut that he'd seen it before. He chanced a quick look up at the ceiling, still looking around through his lashes to minimize the amount of light beating against his eyes, and realized there was a mirror on the ceiling above him. _I'm wearing the same clothes she is. Prisoner's clothes. I'm a prisoner of the Galra. Why? It's right at the edge of my mind, why can't I bring it into focus?_

A grunt, then the closing of a closet door brought his attention back to the woman. "There, he won't be bothering us for a while. Now then, human - well, he said you were a human…"

He watched as she looked at him in shock, unable to move. "Do I look that bad?" he rasped, weakly trying to joke.

She closed her mouth and shook her head. "I never expected to see you again, Champion. Not in an interrogation lab, at least. Let me see if I can override the controls to the table without alerting the whole prison."

"Prison?" he asked, hoping his voice sounded a little stronger this time. "Where am I?"

She smiled at him grimly as one by one the metal straps that bound him to the table unlocked, opened, then retracted into the table, releasing him at last. "Nowhere anyone sane wants to find themselves staying as a… _guest_ ," she replied, helping him slowly sit up on the table. "Can you stay upright on your own for a few ticks? I'm going to find something in here you can drink that's not drugged."

"Yeah," he managed, giving her a weak smile. But he still swayed a bit as she left his side, carefully walking over to a counter a few feet away. He noticed a black metal tube around her neck and wondered if that was what identified her as a Blade. _I know I've heard that before. Someone being a Blade. I know I've heard that before._ "Blade. He called you Blade. That's not your name though - is it?"

The woman moved to her right, her back still to him, reaching for an empty jar. "That should do," she said, then grabbed the counter quickly, biting back a moan of pain. "Quiznak!" she hissed. "No, don't get up Champion," she said, hearing him shift on the table, trying to get to his feet. "It's just pain." Getting the jar, she moved to a sink and soon had water running. She tested it herself, then turned to him and smiled. "Water, just water. Here, take a just a few sips at first. If they've done to you what they usually do to me you'll want to gulp it down once you start, but trust me. Just a few sips to begin with, take it slow. We've got a few dobashes," she said, limping over to him, casting a glance at the door to the room.

 _Why didn't I notice that limp before? I'm supposed to notice things like a that, a good leader keeps an eye on his team! He takes care of them! Wait, where did that come from? I'm a leader?_ Sitting up a bit straighter, he took the jar carefully in his human hand and gave the woman he now thought of as Blade a grateful smile. "Thank you," he said, pleased his voice was starting to sound a bit stronger, if still very hoarse and raspy. Judging by the smile on Blade's face, she was pleased as well.

"Feels like your head is getting clearer, doesn't it?" she asked.

Fighting the urge to gulp the slightly warm water all at once, he carefully nodded. "I'm still fuzzy on a lot of stuff, but yeah. You called me 'Champion'. Is that my name?" But even as he asked, he knew that wasn't quite right. A name for him, perhaps. But not _his_ name.

Blade frowned, then gave a slight, sad smile. "It's the only name I know you by. We met only briefly. Zarkon's fighting arena? Do you remember that, being there? That's been at least a couple of deca-phoebes ago. Maybe even three by now." She gave a disgusted laugh. "Could be longer than that for all I know. Every so often they put me into cryo sleep. Supposedly it's to allow my body to heal up enough to withstand more…" She paused, and in spite of her limp and the pain that crossed her face, she made it to the lab door very quickly, holding up a finger to him, signaling him to remain quiet. Several tense seconds ticked by, then she finally relaxed and made her way back to him. "I could hear sentries outside. Mechanical ones, not Galrans. Those robots will never be as silent as a Galra. But at least you can count on them to stay on schedule if nothing triggers an alarm."

A flash of fighting a large, monstrous creature. People yelling and screaming all around, screaming for his blood, screaming for a fight. An entertaining fight. All with purple skin. A woman in robes, her face hidden from him, but he could see her hands. He knew her hands. "Haggar," he growled softly. "Haggar put me here." He looked at Blade now, his eyes clearer, and she could see the fire of fight and courage lit in them. "I think I remember Zarkon's arena now. We must have both been prisoners there at the same time."

Blade nodded. "We were, but we met only briefly." She smiled, then actually grinned at him. "I only saw you for a couple of quintants before they shipped me out to… whichever detention center it was. No, the first place I was sent to after the arena was a slave work camp." She shrugged, shooting him a slightly sheepish look. "My head is a little fuzzy on a few things too, the where I've been when, and how much time has gone by since I was captured while trying to free political prisoners. Which it was a setup." She shook her head. "Doesn't matter right now. What matters is getting you out of here, Champion. Can you stand up and walk?"

He carefully edged himself off of the table, and while his legs felt very wobbly, he was pleased he could stand on his own, even take a few steps without falling down. Swaying badly, yes. But he could walk. "I won't be winning any races any time soon, but I can walk. Where are we going to?"

"We're going to the hangar bay. I'm going to hijack Tiron's ship for you and get you out of here. I heard what Vaz said, and that idiot over there, what they called you," she said, jerking her thumb over her shoulder to the closet where the guard was chained, gagged, and locked up. "They called you a specimen, like you're some kind of lab experiment or something. You're not. Nobody deserves what that witch can do you, not even Sendak. And I would dearly love to pay him back for many things."

He straightened up at that, staring at Blade. "I know that name. I _know_ that name. I'm not sure how, but I know that name. I've met him - no, I've fought him." He concentrated, fighting to pull a memory to the surface of his slowly clearing mind. "He… he attacked us. We beat him."

"We who?" Blade asked, even as she listened at the door, making sure she heard no one in the hallway before she took her wobbly charge out of the lab.

"I - I'm… not sure," he confessed, running his human hand through his scraggly hair. "My hair shouldn't be this long," he stated in confusion.

Blade looked at him and gave him a sympathetic smile. "Mine's longer. What's left of it." To demonstrate she lifted her bandaged left hand - how had he missed that? - and flipped some of her longer hair in front of her shoulder, then back behind it again.

He didn't say a word about how much of it fell out when she did that. "How long have I been here?"

Blade shrugged and again, there was that sympathetic smile. "I think you've been here a couple of phoebes, maybe. Maybe just one. Or maybe a little more than a couple. I've only just come out of a cryo sleep chamber in the last couple of quintants myself. But I wasn't as out of it as they thought I was while they were dragging me from the chamber to my cell, and from there to here. So I heard them talking about, 'Haggar's pet human didn't get stay here all that long,' and, 'Tiron is going to be delivering Haggar's donor specimen to her.' General impression I got is that you've been here maybe a phoebe or two. Three at the most would be my guess." Blade stopped then, and quietly opened the lab door. "Time to go, Champion. We still have time to get you out of here, but none of it to waste."

He let the woman lead him down the maze of hallways, trying to ignore the flashes of memory of other hallways. Other sentries. More purple lights, purple hands. More pain. Fear. A man, a Galran. "Ulaz," he muttered, once they stopped moving and Blade had them hiding just outside the hangar bay. "I remember a man named Ulaz."

Blade whipped her head around, not paying attention to more of her hair falling out at the sudden action. "You know Ulaz?"

"I… remember meeting him. He…" He struggled to hang on to the flash of memory. "I was in a room sort of like where you found me, but maybe a little bigger? I was strapped down. I… I think I asked what more did they want, they already had my arm." He paused then, unconsciously clenching his right hand into a fist as the memory came back clear. "I said, 'You took my hand. What more do you want?' And he told the Galran sentry who was about to sedate me that he wanted me awake enough to feel what he was going to do. I thought he was going to take my left hand, or maybe do something worse. But instead he caught both Galrans by surprise after that, he knocked them out. He freed me, told me his name. He told me that Zarkon had located the Blue Lion of Voltron on my home planet, Earth, and that I needed to get to it before he did. He told me the Blade of Marmora was with me, and put coordinates into my arm if I made my escape." He stopped at the hard look Blade was giving him, and couldn't help but cringe a bit. She was battered and thin, and he suspected she was hurt far worse than she was letting on, but her stare had him shaking inside. "Blade isn't your name, is it? You're one of them, the Blade of Marmora, aren't you? That's why you're here, they've been trying to get information out of you about the Blades, right?"

She stared at him a few moments longer, then shook her head. Without a word she half-led, half dragged him behind any containers or equipment between them and a ship on the far side of the hangar, dodging sentries and drones all the way. By his reckoning it didn't even take a minute for them to reach the ship, in spite of the circuitous route. Bigger than a two man Altean shuttle pod, but not a large transport ship either, more like a shuttle meant to carry a small group of people and some supplies, but still easily piloted by one person, he surmised. _Wait, how do I know that? Altean? Voltron? Blue Lion? Blade of Marmora? What does all of this mean? I remember the names Pidge and Allura, who are they?_ He watched as she deftly entered in a code on the side of the ship, and then they were inside with no one else the wiser. "Is your name Pidge? I'm remembering that name for some reason, he - no, she, she's a friend of mine, I'm sure of it."

"Here, sit down for a few ticks. I'm setting the ship's coordinates to get you out of here and someplace safe."

He watched her work, feeling he had seen Pidge work like this before. Bent over panels, entering in data - no, this wasn't Pidge. Pidge was human like he was, and younger than this Blade woman. He felt very protective over Pidge, whoever she was. Like… like a sister, he thought. But surely Pidge was someone who could take care of herself, because he was remembering her wearing armor. White armor, black undersuit, with green on the armor and helmet. _Green Lion. She's the pilot for a green robotic lion. No, *the* Green Lion. Like Ulaz was telling me about the Blue Lion. Voltron? Pidge is a pilot for Voltron? Who is Voltron? Do I work for him? Why can't I remember?_ Sighing, he bent over and held his head in his hands. "Everything is so mixed up in my head," he muttered.

It took him a moment to realize his shoulder was being rubbed, that comfort was being offered. He looked up into Blade's eyes, and for a moment saw a woman with tanned skin and flowing white hair. "Allura?" he asked, not knowing where the name came from or why, just that she was a friend, like Pidge. But the face faded quickly, and he saw Blade staring at him in shock. "You're… you're not Allura, are you? That's the other name I remember."

His heart clenched at the sad, stricken look on her face. "No, I'm not Allura. But I know who you're talking about. Princess Allura of Altea. She died a long time ago, along with her father, King Alfor, the Royal Advisor, Coran, and so very many others when Zarkon ordered the planet Altea destroyed. Well over ten thousand deca-phoebes ago it's been now. I'm surprised you've heard of the Princess. But if Ulaz was right about the Blue Lion, then I suppose he told you about her too. Though I didn't think Altean history was one of his specialties." She sighed sadly, "But everyone knows the story of how the war began, so I shouldn't be surprised he told you the basics."

"No," he said, putting a hand on Blade's arm, gripping her a little more tightly than intended. "No, I've not heard of her. I _know_ her, I'm sure of it. She's… she's a friend, like Pidge. And I keep seeing this image of Pidge in armor. White armor, with green on it. I think she's the pilot for a robotic lion. The Green Lion. Is there a Green Lion of this Voltron, or does this Voltron person or group have a fleet of robotic lions? Is this Allura a part of this group? Or is she a Blade of Marmora like you? What is your name, if it's not Blade?"

He was startled when Blade slipped his grasp and took both of his arms firmly in her hands with a surprising strength. "What do you know of the Green Lion and Voltron? The Blue Lion? What do you know, Champion?" When he didn't immediately answer, she shook him a bit, eliciting a moan from him as the shaking made him feel somewhat nauseous. "Sorry, I'm sorry, Champion. It's just…" As he fought down the wave of nausea, he watched Blade struggle for control over her emotions as she released him. "We've waited for so long for the return of Voltron, and now you're telling me that he might be back? That Ulaz was right about the Blue Lion?" He watched her take a deep breath, and pretended not to notice her wince as she almost, just almost pressed her hand to her side. "Did you get back to your homeworld, to Earth? Did you meet Ulaz again?"

"I think I did make it back to Earth," he replied after a moment. _Damn it, the memory is right there, why won't it come back to me?_ "And I think I did meet Ulaz again. Blade, or whatever your name is, who is Voltron?"

The woman smiled, and this time gently taking his arms in hers, she helped him stand up and move over to a long clear tube that was laying horizontally in the ship, the cover of it opening with a soft hiss as she pressed a code into a small panel on the side of the tube. "I'm going to put you in this cryo sleep chamber, Champion. The ship will be set on autopilot, and with you asleep in the chamber, your lifesign will not register on a quick, standard scan by a Galra ship, should the cloaking on this ship fail. I'm not activating it yet, because according to the ship's computer, departure isn't for another thirty dobashes yet." Helping him lay down, she smiled softly, smoothing his hair back, and for a moment he had a memory of another woman, his mother, doing the same thing when he was a child and not feeling well. While part of him wanted to sit up and demand answers - because this woman was Galran, and purple hands were bad - he trusted her. His instincts told him she was a friend, or at the very least, she was friendly. He sighed and closed his eyes, taking comfort in the gentle ministrations from his fellow escapee. "Don't fall asleep yet, Champion. We still have most of those thirty dobashes left, and I've set this sleep chamber to not activate until you've been flying for at least twenty dobashes, just in case."

"Just in case?" he started to ask, then realized with a jolt what was happening, and sat back up, his heartrate speeding up. "Just in case they come after this ship and someone needs to pilot it. Which means you're not coming with me. Am I right, Blade?"

The woman sighed, and rested her hand against the side of his face. "You're right, I'm not. You see this?" she said, pointing to the metal tube he'd noticed earlier that circled her neck. He wasn't sure, but he thought he could see burn marks on her neck where the tube rested against her skin. "It's a tracking collar. The moment I leave this prison, unless it's removed from me or deactivated, it will send out a signal letting anyone looking for me know exactly where I am. If I try to leave with you, they'll recapture you, drug you, and it will be Tiron locking you into this sleep chamber. Instead of waking up a free man, you'll wake up in Haggar's clutches. And I can't allow her to hurt you anymore, not when I have a chance of stopping your pain and giving you a shot at freedom."

He stared at her for a moment, another memory tickling his mind. "Zara. You're Zara. I fought you in Zarkon's arena, didn't I?" She didn't meet his gaze, but finally she nodded. "We pissed off Zarkon somehow, didn't we?"

He smiled and felt his entire body relax as the woman in front of him smiled and laughed, a true, deeply felt laugh. "Oh yes, by all that's holy, we most certainly did! Do you remember exactly how we - what was your term again? Pissed. I remember you saying that back then, too. Do you remember how we pissed him off? Haggar too, for that matter."

He smiled, but shook his head. "It's right there in the corner of my mind, but it's not quite _here_ yet, if that makes sense. We're both alive, so I'm assuming that's the reason."

Zara smiled and placed her hands on his shoulders. "Yes we are, and that is what pissed them off. The _how_ of it all though, that's what really made them angry. But it was worth it." Her smile slipped some, and a sadness crossed her features. "I failed you then. I had hoped to get you out myself, but Haggar ordered me sent to a slave work camp just a few vargas after we fought each other. I never got the chance to really talk to you, find out anything about you, save for those few dobashes after we were taken out of the arena. The two quintants before we fought, when I first met you, I never got to talk to you. The other prisoners didn't quite trust me, since all they could see was a Galra woman. So they made sure I never got close to you. They looked to you as their protector, I think. As their 'Champion', not Haggar's." Her smile came back a bit then. "I'm glad Ulaz got you out, that he succeeded where I failed."

"You were a prisoner, how could you have gotten me out?"

Zara grinned. "I've gotten you here onto Tiron's ship, haven't I?"

He chuckled and held up his hands in surrender. "Okay, okay, point taken." He looked at the timer Zara had set on the control panel. "Twenty dobashes to go, am I reading that right? Though I'm not sure how I know how to read that."

"Twenty dobashes, you're reading it right, Champion."

"I wish I could remember my name. I wish I could remember who Pidge and Allura are. There's others too, but I can't find names in my head. Why am I here, what do they want from me?"

Zara drew him into her arms and hugged him, gently rubbing his back, slightly swaying from side to side with him. "I wish I knew, dear one. I wish I knew." She held him for a few moments longer, until she felt his body relax and his breathing slow down to more normal rate. "Vaz said your belongings had been loaded in here already, how about I crack open the container and see if we can find any clues there, hmm?"

He nodded and smiled, and watched as she picked her way through the few containers that were in the main part of the shuttle. "Your things may be in the hold and not here, but I know Tiron's reputation. If a prisoner has anything of value, he likes to keep it close by. Sometimes to torture a prisoner emotionally, other times to try and gain some knowledge he can leverage to his own benefit. I saw it for myself, once, when he almost transported me to yet another slave work camp." She looked up from her search and grinned. "He made the mistake of underestimating me, and hadn't put me into a cryo sleep chamber for transport. He also hadn't taken the precautions he should have in securing me. The only thing of value I had with me when I was captured was my ceremonial blade, which identifies someone as a Blade of Marmora, or blood kin of the owner of the blade, since the blade is connected to the agent's lifeforce. He made the mistake of taking it out of the case it had been locked into and showing it to me. I was able to attack him, get my blade back from him." Zara's smile was tight, but slightly wicked at the same time. "I think you would have said that I messed him up pretty good, if you had been there to see it." Her smile changed to a frown, and she resumed her search. "That was the first time I saw Vaz, though he'd not been promoted to Commander yet. He shot me in the back, stunned me, then put me in the cryo sleep chamber as Haggar herself had directed. I'm not sure who ended up transporting me, if Tiron did, or someone else. I have no idea how long I was in the chamber. But instead of waking up at yet another slave camp, I woke up in the first of many detention centers like this one." She snorted, checking another container. "Detention center. Just a polite term for prison. Wait a dobash, what do we have here?" she said, opening up a shipping container that unlike the others, had no distinctive markings or labels on the outside to indicate what the contents were.

"You find something?" he asked, getting up from the sleep chamber to look at the container Zara was investigating.

"I'm not sure what I've found," she said, lifting a small box out of the container. "This is a disc box. Hard copies of files that you don't want to risk transmitting, or need to have backup copies of, would be in here." The Galran woman carefully opened up the box to reveal several small, grey discs. "They're all labeled 'Project Kuron', and have dates printed on them. The dates start a few deca-phoebes ago, and go up to just a couple of movements ago. I've never heard anything about a Project Kuron, have you?"

"Can't say as I have," he admitted. "But with as messed up as my memories are right now, maybe I have, and that's why I'm here?"

"Could be," she agreed, setting the box aside and removing a shipping blanket from the larger container to reveal a plain metal box with a coded lock on it. "Prisoner Takashi Shirogane, Earthling, System X-9-Y, personal effects," she read off the label. "It's got your prisoner code on it also. Prisoner 117-9875."

"Takashi Shirogane," he said to himself, testing out the sound of the name. His name. "Most call me Shiro, especially my friends. Hey, I just remembered that, I'm called Shiro!" he exclaimed, feeling almost deliriously happy at knowing his own name finally.

"Nice to meet you, Shiro," Zara chuckled, still working on breaking the coded lock. "Feels good to have your own name again, doesn't it?"

"Better than I ever could have thought it would," he replied with a grin. He still wasn't sure _who_ he was, but having his own name back helped him feel grounded, and very relieved. "Think you can crack that code?"

"Making computers, terminals, networks - and coded locks - obey my will is a specialty of mine," Zara grinned. "I won't brag and say that I'm the best there is, but my skills are not to be underestimated."

"Like Tiron underestimated your fighting ability?"

A grin, and a twinkle in her eye told Shiro that he wasn't the only one feeling better now. "Exactly, my friend. And," she softly exclaimed, as the lock released with a gentle hiss, "I am good. Now let's see just what you have in here Shiro, that warrants such a heavy lock, and being hidden inside a container meant to be seen as nothing special." Carefully she raised the lid on the metal box, starting to lift it back gently, then letting it fall backwards against the back of the metal box with a jarringly loud clang. "By all that's holy," she gasped.

"What? What?" Shiro exclaimed, instinctively looking around, expecting the ship to be flooded with Galra soldiers alerted by the noise. "What's in there?"

"Shiro."

He finally turned back to look at Zara, and saw a black and white helmet in her hands. A flash of memory, of the girl Pidge in her armor, and her green and white helmet. "What is that doing in there?"

Zara swallowed, her face pale, hand shaking slightly. "Shiro… Shiro, there's a full suit of armor in here, but no weapon. It's _your_ armor. It has to be, that's the only explanation for the labeling, the coded lock."

"Why would I - why would I have armor?" he asked, as familiar voices all started to clamor in his head at once.

"There can be only one reason why you would have this, Shiro," Zara replied, her voice betraying her shock. "You are the Black Lion of Voltron's pilot. You're the Black Paladin - and leader of Voltron."


	7. Chapter 7

_Sorry it has taken so long to update, but I have not given up on this story. I knew the story was going to be AU after the fifth season, but now that we have the final two seasons, I have taken the time to go over my plans for the rest of this story to see what I can incorporate from the final seasons without changing my storyline. I wish we could have had one or two more full seasons of VLD, but alas, eight was the last. But we have those eight lovely seasons, and fanfic! One change I will be going back and making is putting in Allura's mother's name, now that we have a canon name for her. For now, on with the next chapter, I hope you will enjoy it._

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Tiron leaned back in the surprisingly comfortable chair in Vaz's personal quarters at Detention Center 15, slowly swirling the goblet of Bathian wine he held in his hand. _Real_ Bathian wine - and what Vaz had was most certainly the real thing - was something to be savored, not gulped down like a common ale or grog. There was some synthetic Bathian wine still to be had if you knew where to buy it, and far easier to obtain than the real item if you had enough money or influence to get it. But the real thing? That took money, influence, power, and unless you had exactly the right connections, an enormous amount of luck.

Tiron hadn't thought Vaz had any of that. But here he was, sitting in surprisingly comfortable command quarters, drinking five hundred deca-phoebe old _real_ Bathian wine - it even had the small, extremely rare Daibazaal Ore Worm in it - with a commander who was in charge of one of the few detention centers left under the old Galran Empire control. Emperor Lotor had freed everyone who wasn't a truly dangerous criminal in every detention center which fell in line under his rule, which had instantly endeared Zarkon's spawn to many in the Empire who wanted peace, or who had seen the writing on the wall with the return of Voltron. In spite of how young the current Paladins were - or perhaps because of it - they had made great strides towards dismantling the old Empire in the very few deca-phoebes they had been fighting. The death of Zarkon, and Lotor's controversial Kral Zera victory had broken the Galra Empire up into the New Galra Empire, and several other factions who wanted things to continue on much as they had during Zarkon's reign. The most powerful factions had managed to hold on to various bases and detention centers, or had leveraged the strength of their forces against those who had held on to those bases, and had built up their power base that way. The two most powerful, in terms of being able to intimidate others, or simply overwhelm them, had become High Priestess Haggar's faction, and Sendak's faction. Few could stand against Sendak's strength. Fewer still wanted to stand against the witch's powers. A smart man knew how to play the game, and stay with the winning faction.

Tiron was a very smart man. He'd played men and women to his advantage for nearly sixty deca-phoebes now, leveraging what he could gain from each one to make his way steadily up social, military, and political ladders. Some had given him wealth, position, and certain amounts of influence willingly. Others, he had _encouraged_ to be considerate, even generous with him. Encouraged, yes. He liked that word. So much more… civilized a word than blackmail. And one must always be civil. Until one must not be. That was just one of the many reasons why he was a very smart man, why he played the game so well. And why he had sided with the witch after the Kral Zera fiasco. Sendak had great strength, and had amassed a great amount of power in just a few short phoebes. He was an excellent military commander, and one could clearly see Zarkon's mark on his training.

But Haggar was the mistress of manipulation, Tiron had seen that firsthand at Central Command. She was the only one who could convince Zarkon to have patience when a more subtle, deft hand was called for. But she could also move him to swift and deadly action with a few equally well-crafted words. Officially, she had served as Zarkon's right hand, and you considered her his full partner if you wanted to keep Zarkon's favor - and more importantly, hers. When you displeased Zarkon, at least you were promised demotion if you were truly blessed. Exile to the outermost reaches of the Empire if you were not so blessed. A painful, but swift execution, if you failed to plead your case successfully. But at least the death would be swift. If you ran afoul of Haggar, a swift death would be a rare blessing. There were a few things worse than a swift, if painful death.

Haggar knew them all. She had created most of them herself, after all.

So Tiron had decided to stay with Haggar's faction. The last thing he ever wanted to do was to find himself the subject of one of her interrogations. Her mysterious Druids were just as sadistic in their methods as she was, which was to be expected since she had trained each one of them personally. It was rumored that being trained by Haggar to become a Druid was even more horrific than anything she could do to a prisoner. She would coyly say that was merely a rumor, because surely if that were the truth, no one would want to be one of her Druids, would they? Tiron had demurred at her invitation to join their ranks a few deca-phoebes earlier, when she had complimented him on breaking a prisoner in record time. Wisely, he had thanked her properly and profusely for the honor of the offer, but said he was not certain he would be able to meet her high standards at that time. But, if she believed him truly worthy, he would of course accept her invitation. Anything to best serve the Empire, and Emperor Zarkon.

He had wisely given her his answer in front of Zarkon. She wanted him for a Druid, but Zarkon wanted him exclusively for the purpose of interrogating prisoners. Druid work involved many other things, and Zarkon hadn't wanted to lose one of his best, not while he was searching for the Lions of Voltron. And, it had been Tiron's work which at the time was getting them closer to finding where one of the Lions was. So Haggar had deferred to Zarkon, but let Tiron know that the invitation was open-ended. And after his interrogations yielded the location of the Red Lion, Haggar seemed content to allow him to continue to serve Zarkon as he was, and not as a Druid. He didn't have a single smear on his record, and now Haggar needed someone like him more than ever, and not as a Druid. So the game dictated that he stay on Haggar's team for now.

"Enjoying the wine?" Vaz asked pleasantly. "With your travels across the Empire, I'm sure you've had real Bathian wine before," he said, offering to top off Tiron's goblet.

Tiron nodded and smiled. "Yes I have, but only a very few times. And," he added, pointing to the bottle with goblet still in hand, "I've only had this particular vintage once before, decades ago. It's gotten better with time. You have superior taste, Vaz. Your father should be proud."

"My father taught me many things," Vaz said with a smile as he refilled the interrogator's goblet, and bestowed the Honor of the Worm to Tiron, letting the long dormant but still alive tiny insect slide out of the bottle to float in Tiron's wine goblet. "But with wine, I must give credit to my grandmother. And to her great-grandmother, who was the one who bottled this vintage, the last she crafted before her passing."

Tiron eyebrows raised. "I had no idea your family were vintners."

"We go back all the way to when Daibazaal was still in her glory, long before King Alfor's treachery. My family has always worked for the glory of the Empire, in whatever capacity our talents were needed."

Tiron mulled this over as he sipped his wine. He would never admit it to anyone, but he knew precious little about Commander Vaz. In fact, he had only met him once before, when Vaz had stunned the Blade named Zara before she could escape from Tiron. Vaz had covered for him then, and Tiron had felt obligated to slip a few compliments about him into the right ears, especially since Vaz had not asked for any favors at all. _He was simply serving the Empire, he said back then. If his family legacy goes back as far to be before the war started, before the destruction of Daibazaal, then it makes sense. Huh. Someone doing something purely out of duty and not for any particular profit other than pride in their service._ Mentally he shrugged. _Takes all kinds, I suppose._ "Your grandmother's great-grandmother, she must have benefited greatly from the blessing of quintessence, to have bottled this vintage. My compliments again, this time to her," he said, with a nod, and another, deeper sip of the wine. He smiled as he felt the wine, and the rare worm slide smoothly down his throat. To be the one with the worm in his goblet was considered to be both a true honor, and a harbinger of great things to come. He allowed himself to feel prideful, because after all, hadn't he been Zarkon's best at interrogation, with only the witch his better? It was only right that Vaz recognized his greatness. And, Tiron grudgingly had to admit, it was indeed an honor to be deliberately given the worm, particularly by one of those who were masters of the wine. "She truly was an artisan," he acknowledged, dipping his head slightly to recognize her skill.

Vaz nodded once, lifting up his own goblet again, but paused before bringing it to his lips. "Our family, those who chose to accept the benefits of the quintessence offered to us by Emperor Zarkon and the High Priestess, have dedicated ourselves to the service of Zarkon and the Empire. For the prosperity he has brought our people, how can we do anything but serve such a man?"

Tiron was glad his goblet hid the smirk he was unable to suppress. It was foolish to so blindly follow just one man, when that man's own obsession with the Lions of Voltron had ultimately led to his downfall. Tiron would have counseled Zarkon not to keep his son so far away in exile, in spite of his being a disappointment to him. Had Lotor been kept closer, he could have been more easily molded, primed to take his father's place. Loyalty to the son would never have been put seriously in question, and the Empire wouldn't currently be in tatters. As he recalled, even Haggar had suggested carefully, cautiously, that it would be wiser to bring Lotor closer to home. But Zarkon would have none of it, insisting that the distance would make Lotor a better ruler and warrior. Tiron was certain that an inherent distrust of half-breeds amongst his own men had also played into that decision, but no one had ever dared suggest it aloud. Publicly, Zarkon had been proud of his son being able to keep the worlds at the farthest edges of the Empire under control, and subservient to the Empire's demands.

Tiron played the game wisely enough to never mention the rumors of Zarkon considering his son to be his greatest mistake. He valued his life, and the comforts he had accumulated over time far too much to risk losing them with a careless comment. "Were that he was still here to lead us," he said, surprised at how much he actually meant that. At least when Zarkon had ruled, there was a certain stability in the Empire, even with his obsession with Voltron. Now, there was nothing but chaos. Chaos that needed a firm hand to bring order, bring the Empire back together. Tiron intended to become that firm hand by allying with Haggar, proving to her that he was a better choice to lead the Empire, a better candidate to be her chosen one than Sendak.

If the rumors were indeed true that her faction and his were partnering up. Which he suspected they were, since Sendak had been her chosen one at the Kral Zera over then Prince Lotor. He personally believed that Sendak had never truly broken his ties with the witch after the Kral Zera to begin with. He took another sip of the incredibly excellent wine, then found he couldn't resist anymore, and drained his goblet with a satisfied smile, pleased at the sensation of the dormant worm waking up in his belly. The stories were true, he was happy to discover, that when the Ore Worm awoke inside of you, that it released chemicals that heightened your pleasure, and made you feel even more alive.

If only there wasn't a slight trail of sweat slowly moving down the back of his neck at the same time. "I envy you your wine, Vaz. Your family are truly masters of their art." He barely resisted a sudden urge to tug at his collar. _His wine is perfection. His climate control for these quarters is sorely lacking, it's been getting hotter as I've been sitting here._

"My father would be pleased to hear you say that - if he were still alive. Karack was his name. I believe you met him some several deca-phoebes ago. You were already in Zarkon's service, proving yourself. I was infantry, and just starting to make my own mark, as memory serves."

"Karack?" Tiron frowned. The name did sound vaguely familiar. _Did I encourage him at some point? Or take him down? The name is familiar._ It was better to err on the side of caution, he decided. "It is quite possible I crossed paths with him, I've met and worked with many men and women in my career."

"He took you as a lover."

Tiron's hand shook ever so slightly as he placed his empty goblet on Vaz's table, the only indication of his surprise. "I beg pardon?" he asked, pleased that his voice remained steady and pleasant. "I mean yes, I've had many lovers, male and female alike, and many who were merely… convenient. Pleasing and comfortable company for a brief time." _Why the hell did I just admit that? This vintage is far more potent than its reputation. Maybe that is why it feels so hot in here now. I have to be more careful if I have any of this vintage in the future._ "I feel that I would certainly remember a man so loyal to Emperor Zarkon and the Empire if we had been lovers, Vaz. Perhaps you were given a more colorful account of any contact I may have had with him? If you carry on his visage - and I rather suspect you do - I would definitely remember him," he said, putting just the right amount of compliment in his tone, colored with a hint of flirtation. Pleased with himself he leaned back in his chair, nearly sighing with relief as he suddenly felt cooler. _Good, his climate control has activated. I've not lost my head over the wine after all._

Vaz merely smiled, and Tiron shivered ever so slightly, though he wasn't sure if it was the temperature in the room, or the wine, or both. "He took you as a lover, Tiron. He made a fool of himself over you. He was a general, highly favored by Emperor Zarkon. Little did he know that after you pleased him in his marital bed night after night, you would wait for him to fall asleep, then place a transmission to Emperor Zarkon, reporting on my father's actions. I saw you, Tiron," he said, cutting off the interrogator's protest with a sharp wave of his hand. "I saw you while I was visiting him on leave. I saw him smuggle you in while my mother was away on family business, I saw him carelessly throw my mother's love and trust into the trash every time he called out your name. My mother never knew. I heard you report to Zarkon, you were not as careful as you should have been. I accepted what you did because you were looking for traitors, and my father had to be investigated, to prove his innocence. At least, that's what I told myself. I still thought my father a fool, but he was loyal to the Empire, and you knew that. But you were enjoying being by my father's side in public, being seen as a valuable aide to a well-respected general."

"Vaz, surely you must be - " Tiron broke off as Vaz pulled out a round locket; a pure translucent crystal that had only been found on Daibazaal, and had been highly rare and valuable long before the Galra homeworld's destruction. _My sweet Tir._ Karack's voice came back to him, just as clear as it had been on the first day Tiron had started to play with the general's emotions. _I have three of these gems. They are priceless on their own, but I have had master artisans fuse a lock of my wife's hair into one gem, my son's in another. I wear them under my armor in battle. But this one has a lock of your hair fused inside. This one I will have mounted into my ceremonial sword. Everyone will assume it has my wife and son's hair. But it will have yours instead, my sweet one. You will always be with me at the most important moments of my life, even if we are galaxies apart. My wife will not understand me wanting to keep you as a lover, she will not accept you into our family. My son will not understand either. That is why they can never know about you. But this way, you will always be with me. My sweet, sweet Tir._

Yes. He had _encouraged_ Karack. Several times. And now the room felt even hotter, as the pleasure from the worm switched to pain.

Vaz smiled as Tiron paled, then trembled. "I see your memory has returned. My father was no traitor, never was. But you led Zarkon to believe that you weren't sure for several phoebes, which led to my father being left out of key decisions. His advice would have been listened to, and Zarkon would not have had as much trouble with certain rebel factions who were gaining ground back then if my father had been kept closer, had been able to have Zarkon's ear as was his hard-earned right, and my family's legacy. Once you were through playing my father for a fool, you cleared him with Zarkon of course. But you laughed at him. You cruelly stabbed him with your derision, not unlike how you torture the prisoners given to you to question. He thought he loved you as much as he did my mother, more so in some ways. He thought you felt the same."

Vaz stood up, knocking his chair over in the process, and moving with a speed Tiron never expected from the commander. "And because that wasn't enough, because you had to twist your hurtful blade into him even more, he had to praise you to Emperor Zarkon for being _loyal_ enough, _dutiful_ enough to investigate anyone who could have possibly been a threat to the Empire. He had to compliment you, recommend that Zarkon promote you, give you a commendation, or else you would have made sure everyone knew that General Karack, highly decorated and respected loyal servant and advisor to the Emperor, a man known for his intelligence, wisdom, his ability to see through lies and deception, had been utterly fooled by a pretty face. He had to live with knowing that not only had you never loved him, had only been interested in what wealth and position you could gain from him, but that he had never been seriously suspected of being a traitor at all. You had made up all of the whispers so you could justify _investigating_ my father. So you could worm your way into his bed, his heart, his trust."

Tiron tried to speak, but his voice failed him as he tried to breathe normally. One tick he felt like he was burning up, the next, freezing cold. "Ah yes, speaking of worms," Vaz laughed, showing Tiron the empty bottle of Bathian wine. "You can feel the worm racing through your veins now, can't you? You, the master interrogator, the man who is supposed to be able to see through any deception - you didn't notice that I never poured any wine from _this_ bottle into _my_ goblet, did you? My father died with honor, in battle, defending his Emperor from a fatal blow, determined to make up for his failing where you were concerned. Zarkon never knew of your treachery where my father was concerned, and made sure his death rites were full honors. Named him brother before he died, and again at his memorial. He took a bottle of Bathian wine, this very bottle which had been one of twelve my family had gifted to him nearly one hundred deca-phoebes earlier, and gave it to me after the memorial. He told me he knew that someone had betrayed my father's trust, that whoever it was, they were the ones responsible for the whispers you had had to investigate. He told me that at his request, High Priestess Haggar had enchanted the worm in the bottle, turned it into a deadly little assassin. The taste of the wine would not be changed in the least, so the victim would never know when they swallowed the tiny worm that they had just killed themselves. He told me to find out who was responsible for the whispers - and make them drink this wine. He wanted them to suffer for trying to sully his most trusted general's reputation."

Tiron gasped, his vision narrowing as it felt like his entire body was on fire, but the flame was cold. With a sudden shock, he realized his body _was_ on fire, burning from the inside out, burning with a freezing cold blue-black flame that was now breaking through his skin, skittering across his entire body. He could feel the witch's dark magic keeping him alive, even as his body turned to ash. "I couldn't serve justice to you deca-phoebes ago, back when I saved you from that Blade bitch. It wasn't the right time. But my father told me many times when I was growing up that patience is always rewarded, justice will always triumph in the end. Justice is now served for my father, justice that Emperor Zarkon asked me to mete out."

With a silent, horrified scream Tiron's death came, the cold flame turning his body to ash, then incinerating the ash until there was nothing left, nothing to indicate that Interrogator Tiron had ever been in Vaz's quarters. Disposing of the empty bottle into the recycler, the commander smiled. "I guess Tiron didn't like the wine after all." Picking up his own goblet, he slowly sipped and savored his untainted wine. "Rest now, Father," he said, looking out of the one large window his quarters had. "I have avenged you." He ignored the light blinking on his intercom, blissfully unaware of Tiron's ship launching out into space with Takashi Shirogane, Prisoner 117-9875 on board.

But later, he found himself wishing he had one more bottle of tainted wine to pour down Zara's throat, once he did find out about yet another prisoner escaping by virtue of her traitorous hands.

 _On Tiron's ship_

Shiro looked at the timer counting down until he was to enter the pod and go into cryo sleep until the stolen ship he was in reached its destination. Zara had told him she had programmed the ship to go to a Blade outpost in the same system the planet Olkarion was in; he was heading for one of the moons of the planet closest to Olkarion. She had already set everything up, the ship would signal the automated security systems of the outpost so he wouldn't set off any alarms - or be shot down, since without the signal, Tiron's ship would certainly show up as an enemy combatant. He would be able to contact Olkarion from there when he was ready, Zara had suggested he give himself some time to check the logs at the outpost, see what was going on in the system, make sure it was safe to contact Olkarion. Her codes would give him access to everything he needed there, from communications to security, to living quarters and food ration storage. "We don't use this outpost often," she had told him. "But we keep it supplied, and someone checks it periodically to make sure everything is still safe and sound. If a Blade happens to be there when you arrive, they will recognize my codes. You'll be safe. They'll ask how you got my codes. Tell them I programmed them in myself, and that I'm continuing my mission."

He was also watching the readout from the communications monitor. He was nearly out of range, nearly safe, and only now were there orders to scan for Tiron's ship. "Missing," was the information given, and, "Unable to contact Interrogator Tiron." The orders were coming from the prison as best he could tell, but if that was correct, then why wasn't there an alert for an escaped prisoner?

 _The commander's trying not to reveal there's been a jailbreak,_ Shiro realized with a start. But Tiron was taking him to Haggar, and surely he wouldn't want to lose face with her over an escaped prisoner? Shiro continued to monitor the readout, keeping an eye on the timer. He had five dobashes left before he needed to get into the pod. _Commander Vaz won't want an escaped prisoner on his record, especially not one like me, right? Right. Neither would Tiron. But Tiron isn't the one sending the alert, he would lose face more with me taking his ship - well, Zara taking his ship and sending me off with it. Why isn't Tiron the one sending the alert? Why isn't there anything about me? Do they not know yet that I'm out? Has Zara been able to run interference this long? Why are they saying they can't contact Tiron? What is going on?_

Shiro kept watch until the very last dobash, then climbed into the pod. _Is Zara still alive? Will Vaz and Tiron kill her for this? Has she given up her life for mine?_ Shiro's mind whirled, images from his past flashing fast and furious as his mind cleared more and he put more pieces together. _I'm Takashi Shirogane. I'm the leader of Voltron, I'm the Black Paladin. I'm the Paladin of the Black Lion. I've got to get back to my team. No, not just a team. My family. I've got to get these discs to Pidge and Coran. I remember them now. I've got to get these discs to them so we can find out what Project Kuron is. I've escaped from Detention Center 15, with the aid of an imprisoned member of the Blade of Marmora, named Zara. I have to update the team, I have to let Kolivan know about Zara. I'm Takashi Shirogane. I'm the leader of Voltron. I'm the Black Paladin. I'm the Paladin of the Black Lion._

He repeated it to himself until he could feel the beginnings of cryo sleep creeping up on him. He pictured Zara's face, focused on the memory of her. _When I wake up, my friend, it will be my turn to save you._

 _Present time_

"How soon will we be transporting the prisoners, Commander Vaz?"

Karsh waited while his Commander paced back and forth, preferring to check reports and readouts himself, rather than have those under him simply tell him what he wanted to know. Vaz was very meticulous that way. Then again, these orders had come from High Priestess Haggar herself, so Karsh couldn't blame the man for making sure he had absolutely everything in perfect order, down to the smallest detail. Haggar wasn't known for being very forgiving if you made mistakes.

And her methods of punishment often made you wish for death.

"Within two quintants, possibly one quintant," the commander finally replied. "Be prepared to load up all prisoners within twenty-four vargas, and for all detention center personnel to evacuate at the same time. Non-essential personnel are to begin preparations for evacuation now. Most of the personnel need to be out of here within sixteen vargas, I am keeping only those most essential to the transportation of the prisoners here to meet High Priestess Haggar's ship, which is where the scum will live out the rest of their miserable lives, most likely. The personnel who evacuate earlier are to go to Detention Center 9 for new assignments." Vaz looked at Karsh then, giving his right hand man a hard stare. "You're with me, the Priestess has requested I personally see to the transportation of Prisoner Z-2976. The other eleven prisoners can be taken by the guards who normally watch them."

Karsh raised an eyebrow. "We're to personally handle Prisoner Z-2976's move?"

Vaz allowed himself a tight, small smile. "We're to personally hand the prisoner over to the Priestess herself. She's very interested in that Blade scum. I'll handle the prisoner myself. I want you to take the scum's knife and make sure Z-2976 see it. I want the prisoner to be reminded of every single failed escape attempt by seeing that knife in our possession. I want Z-2976 to know they will never be free. Be prepared to stun the Blade if the scum gives us any trouble at all." Vaz turned back to the monitors, putting in his own personal code to issue the evacuation order silently to every soldier and drone in the prison, rather than make an audible announcement. "Haggar has apparently decided that the Blade has had enough time to rest and relax, and consider their position here," he said with a smirk. "She's going to question the Blade personally as soon as we're underway." The commander glanced over his shoulder at Karsh. "You and I will be the last ones to leave, with the prisoner. We'll be setting the center's self-destruct so that the Voltron Alliance, nor the Blade of Marmora, will be able to find anything of use here."

"Nor will Emperor Lotor," Karsh added. "I take it the High Priestess doesn't want him to find anything or anyone he can use here either."

" _Temporary_ Emperor," Vaz said. "He won't last long, not with the power Haggar can command." Vaz turned back again to Karsh and lowered his voice so as not to be overheard by anyone working nearby. "You can muster all the military might you want, but that witch has powers that should never be underestimated. Lotor would have been smarter to keep her as an ally." Vaz straightened up, watching as various prison staff started to talk amongst themselves, his orders having been received by everyone now. "Report to your supervisors," he spoke in a raised voice. "Finalize all your work and evacuate as ordered. I will see some of you under my command again after this is over. We don't have much time, so get to it. Vrepit sa!"

"Vrepit sa!" several voices answered, before the men and drones scattered to various locations to begin the shutting down of the prison, making sure all files were saved, heading off to pack up supplies. Everyone had their assignments, a list of what was necessary, what was to be left behind. For anyone who would be near the prisoners before Haggar's ship arrived, they were to not let on to any of the twelve that they were about to be moved, much less to where they were being taken. Karsh saluted his commander, then took his leave to begin his preparations, which there was surprisingly little for him to do. In less than a varga, what few personal possessions he had were packed in a small bag, and all of the files he was responsible for were being downloaded to discs to go with him to his next assignment.

Which would not be on Haggar's ship, if he could help it. Quickly he checked to make sure no one was in the corridor outside of his quarters, then locked the door. In just a few dobashes he had his communicator secured against eavesdropping, and made his call.

"Karsh reporting in. This is a Priority One alert."

The ticks before his transmission was verified as being secure felt like forever, but he was soon rewarded for his nervous patience. "Report."

"Emperor Lotor," Karsh began. "The witch Haggar has ordered the evacuation of Detention Center 15, immediately. The order was issued a little less than a varga ago. We're to completely evacuate the prison, with all twelve prisoners, within two quintants, possibly one quintant. Non-essential personnel are to be gone within the next fifteen vargas. I'm to set the self-destruct of this facility, along with Commander Vaz." Karsh frowned then. "The witch doesn't want you to find anything here you can use. Or anyone. I'm afraid your plan to rescue the political prisoners has to become a high priority, if you want to save them. They're all physically weak from a lack of food, water, and proper medical attention. Keeps them from giving the guards much trouble. There's one prisoner in particular, designated Prisoner Z-2976, that Haggar apparently plans to question personally as soon as we have everyone on board her ship and are leaving."

Lotor snorted. "The witch doesn't like to waste time. Send me the floorplan for the prison. How many personnel will be left once the non-essentials are gone?"

"Approximately one hundred, Emperor, of which Commander Vaz has ordered seventy of them to be drones. He wants everyone else to be focused on getting essential files and supplies on board, and the prisoners transported with as little trouble as possible."

"Be prepared to see me there with a rescue team within eighteen vargas, starting now. If anything changes, anything at all, let me know. We'll rescue as many of the prisoners as we can. In the meantime, continue to transmit all of the files from DC-15 that you can under this encryption, for as long as you can. Take the precaution of bouncing the signal." Lotor smiled then. "Your loyalty will be rewarded. Lotor out."

Karsh stared at the screen for a few moments, then began his transmissions to Lotor. "Oh, 'We'll rescue as many of the prisoners as we can,' he says," the second in command muttered under his breath. "Not quite good enough, son of Zarkon." Karsh pulled out another communicator, this one with an even tighter encryption code to mask its transmission. Karsh didn't speak this time, but quickly typed in a code, one that would immediately identify him. He'd barely sent the code when the screen filled with a familiar face.

"Karsh. You're reporting in later than expected."

"Kolivan," he said, nodding once to his superior. "We've got trouble here. I've kept my cover with Lotor, I've notified him that this detention center, and all prisoners here, are to be evacuated immediately. Non-essential personnel should be gone within fifteen vargas. We're expecting evacuation of the personnel left behind and the prisoners to Haggar's ship to happen within two quintants, possibly one. We're to be prepared to load up within twenty-three vargas. We got our order barely a varga ago."

"Haggar," Kolivan growled. "Is Lotor going to ask Voltron for help?"

"Unknown, sir. He said to expect to see his rescue team within eighteen vargas. And that he would rescue as many of the prisoners as possible."

Kolivan studied his comrade, his friend, his cousin. "You think he's more interested in saving information from the prison than the people held there."

"I think if we were to lose any of the prisoners, he would probably say their loss is… unfortunate. Kolivan, that's not good enough!"

"Karsh, there is always a risk in rescuing prisoners. Can any of them fight for themselves?"

"No," Karsh nearly growled. "All the more reason to try harder to rescue them!"

"I agree with you," Kolivan replied calmly. "But it is possible Lotor has accepted that a loss of life may be unavoidable."

Karsh fought to keep his anger under tight control. Kolivan wasn't making excuses for Lotor, he would never do that. And he was right, the loss of life was a risk. A high risk, if he was honest with himself. But he couldn't shake the feeling that Lotor wasn't as invested in saving all of the prisoners as he was. As the Blade of Marmora were, and as Voltron would be. "Prisoner Z-2976."

"Who?"

"That's her designation here, Kolivan. Vaz wants me to help him transport her onto Haggar's ship, he's going to deliver her personally. Haggar wants to start questioning her as soon as she's on board and we're leaving. The detention center will be set for self-destruct. I'm sending you everything I have now."

Kolivan felt his stomach tighten into a knot. Behind him he heard a door softly slide open. He didn't have to turn around to recognize the light steps of Keith Kogane, the former Red Paladin, and former Paladin for the Black Lion. He held up a hand to keep his youngest Blade from speaking. "Her?" Kolivan said tightly, his entire body ready to jump through the screen to try and get into Karsh's room. "You're sure?"

Karsh nodded. "I was only able to confirm it was her a few dobashes before Vaz called me in to let me know about Haggar's orders. She's under extremely tight security here. And," he said, "her blade is still here. I'm to take it, Vaz will take her, and I'm to stun her if she tries to cause trouble. She's in terrible shape, Kolivan. She won't survive being in the witch's hands." Karsh's face twisted with a scowl. "From the rumors I've heard, someone helped an important prisoner escape a few phoebes ago, and Vaz tortured them for a phoebe before putting them in cryo-sleep. She's the only prisoner who has been in cryo-sleep in the last couple of phoebes. Still a Blade."

"To the end. Yes, it sounds exactly like her." But still, he looked at the image of Karsh, searched his face for any signs of doubt. "No doubts?"

"None. Kolivan… you need to be prepared. She may not even survive being rescued. Swift death may be more merciful. I can give her something - "

Kolivan cut him off with a sharp wave of his hand, then took a deep breath. "I'm calling Princess Allura right now. But with or without Voltron, I'll be there with help. Lotor can help, or he can stay out of my way. We're going to get her and the others out of that hell. Kolivan out."

Kolivan hung his head for a moment, forcing his emotions to remain under control. He couldn't let Keith see him upset, angry - couldn't let him see the turmoil stirring inside him. Not after all his lectures about the mission coming first, and to keep emotions under control. He took a quick breath and schooled his features into as calm an expression as he could. Which still betrayed a fiery fierceness that Keith wasn't quite prepared for. "Keith," Kolivan started. "I'm calling the Princess on the way, but we're going to the Castle of Lions now. There's a detention center with political prisoners that Haggar is having evacuated. We've been waiting for the prison to cut its staff down before trying a rescue, but we don't have that option anymore. Twelve prisoners are to be rescued. You're going to be with me to rescue one in particular. She's been designated as Prisoner Z-2976. She's a Blade, and has been held captive for the last three deca-phoebes in various Galran prisons."

Keith didn't question the order, but ran behind Kolivan as the Blade leader called on his communicator, summoning a small squad of twelve Blades, including the two of them. He listened as Kolivan barked out orders, letting the team know that hopefully they would be doing this with Voltron's help, but with or without it, they would be rescuing the prisoners. Within a few dobashes they were all loaded up in a transport ship, one that they always kept ready with explosives, ropes, weapons, medical supplies, and anything else that could be needed for an emergency. Kolivan motioned for Keith to take the controls in the cockpit, and Kolivan settled into the copilot's seat. The former paladin stayed silent as Kolivan continued his briefing of the rest of the team, then called ahead to the castle ship to alert Allura they were on the way. Keith gave him a few dobashes to settle, then asked quietly, "Who is this Prisoner Z-2976? Besides being a Blade?"

Kolivan took a slightly shaky breath and stared at the ship's readouts for a few moments. "Her name is Zara," he finally answered, and to Keith's surprise, a tear rolled down Kolivan's cheek. "And if fate had been kinder, she could have been my mother."


End file.
